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Conversations   with  Christ 


Conversations 
with  Christ 

A  Biographical   Study 


BY    THE    AUTHOR    OF 

'THE   FAITH   OF   A   CHRISTIAN' 


9W  TUB 


MACMILLAN    AND    CO.,  Limited 

NEW    YORK  :   THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 
1905 

j4/1  rights  reserved 


ST  zvi 
AS- 


mmri 


PREFACE 

The  four  Gospels  contain  not  one  but  many 
portraits  of  Christ,  as  they  reveal  one  or  other 
aspect  of  His  rich  and  unique  personality.  In 
the  narratives,  however,  the  transition  from  one 
to  the  other  is  so  rapid  that  the  mind  fails  to 
retain  more  than  a  faint  impression  of  each.  We 
need  to  isolate  the  different  portraits  if  each  aspect 
of  His  varied  personality  is  to  produce  its  full 
impression.  The  following  study  is  an  attempt  to 
present  one  of  these  many  striking  portraits.  It 
brings  before  us  the  figure  of  Christ,  as  the 
Prophet  of  Nazareth  of  the  common  people,  who 
moved  in  and  out  amongst  them  in  the  closest 
intimacy,  who  was  accessible  to  all  and  in  sym- 
pathy with  all,  who  dealt  with  them  as  individuals 
in  the  intimacy  of  private  and  personal  inter- 
course. In  the  picture  thus  presented  to  us  the 
background  is  so- commonplace,  the  environment 
is  so  ordinary,  that  the  figures  stand  out  in  sharp 
relief,   and   the   faces   reveal    all    the    conflicting 

V 


v'l     CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST 

passions  and  changing  feelings  of  the  soul.  This 
portrait  of  the  Jesus  of  the  Gospel  interviews  is 
one  which  well  deserves  and  amply  repays  the 
deepest  study.  Perhaps  one  of  the  most  valuable 
results  of  such  a  study  is  the  very  strong  im- 
pression it  leaves  upon  the  mind,  that  in  these 
interviews  we  have  before  us  fact  and  not  fancy, 
history  and  not  myth.  The  figures  are  evidently 
real  men  and  women,  the  questions  are  practical 
and  not  academic,  the  movement  of  thought  is 
throbbing  with  life  and  personality.  We  may  not 
possess  the  negatives  from  which  these  portraits 
have  been  printed,  but  the  pictures  have  all  the 
characteristics  of  photographs,  and  therefore  imply 
both  negatives  and  originals.  The  portrait  of 
Jesus  is  too  natural  to  be  artificial,  too  instinct 
with  life  to  be  imaginative,  and  it  has  too  much 
personality  to  be  mythical.  Here  especially  we 
are  brought  face  to  face  with  the  Christ  of 
history. 


CONTENTS 


1.  An  Israel  but  not  a  Jacob 

2.  The  Rationalist         .... 

3.  Satiated  but  not  Satisfied 

4.  The  Eclipse  of  Faith 

5.  Religious  Conservatives 

6.  The  Man  whose  Suffering  debased  him 

7.  The  Ritualists  ..... 

8.  The  Social  Problem 

9.  The  Woman  who  would  not  be  denied 

10.  An  Unexpected  Day  of  Judgment 

11.  A  Degenerate  Aristocracy 

12.  The  Man  whose  Suffering  ennobled  him 

13.  An  Unconventional  Lawyer 

14.  The  Two  Sisters        .... 

15.  Marriage  and  Divorce 

16.  Sacrifice  an  Essential  to  Completeness 

17.  An  Ambitious  Mother 

18.  A  Little  Man  w^ith  a  Large  Heart 

19.  A  Question  of  Authority 

20.  Pseudo-Conscientious  Objectors 

21.  PoSITIVISTS  ...... 

22.  A  Moral  Sceptic        .... 

23.  Faith  versus  Sight    .... 

vii 


FAGX 

I 

12 

25 

43 
55 
66 

77 

88 

100 

112 

122 

135 
150 
160 
170 
182 
193 
203 
213 
225 

235 
246 
269 


I 

AN    ISRAEL    BUT    NOT    A    JACOB. 
John  i.  43-51. 

Personal  influence  is  one  of  those  subjects  in 
regard  to  which  our  knowledge  is  in  inverse 
proportion  to  our  familiarity.  We  are  intimately 
acquainted  with  it  both  in  ourselves  and  in  others. 
We  speak  of  it  as  though  it  were  the  simplest 
conception,  and  yet  the  moment  we  attempt  to 
explain  it  and  account  for  it,  we  find  ourselves  in 
a  region  of  mystery.  In  those  cases  in  which  it 
is  very  pronounced,  we  acknowledge  the  mystery 
in  the  common  terms  we  use  to  describe  it.  We 
speak  of  it  as  an  infatuation,  thereby  acknowledging 
that  the  person  subject  to  it  acts  in  a  manner 
which  is  inexplicable.  We  talk  of  the  fascination 
one  mind  exercises  over  another,  meaning  that  the 
influence  is  beyond  our  powers  of  comprehension. 
We  even  fall  back  on  the  language  of  superstition, 
and  refer  to  spells  and  enchantments.  If  we  are 
under  the  tyranny  of  the  new  creed  which  some  of 
our  scientific  leaders  seem  inclined  to  impose,  we 

I  B 


2      CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST       i 

may  possibly  talk  of  telepathy,  or  affinities,  or 
magnetism,  and  delude  ourselves  into  the  belief 
that  by  attaching  a  label  we  have  explained  a 
mystery.  We  are  apt  to  forget  that  every  man's 
inner  life  is  and  must  be  more  or  less  of  a  mystery 
to  every  other  man.  We  are  individuals  and 
not  atoms,  and  the  atomic  theory  cannot  be 
applied  to  us.  We  cannot  be  accurately  weighed 
and  numbered,  and  our  relations  to  other  atoms 
definitely  fixed.  We  combine  on  no  fixed  principle, 
we  are  repelled  according  to  no  definite  rule.  The 
attraction  and  repulsion  are  not  necessarily  those 
of  one  class  for  another  class :  they  are  those  of 
one  soul  for  another  soul.  The  psychologist,  if 
he  likes,  may,  after  the  manner  of  the  chemist, 
seek  to  fix  our  psychic  weight  and  determine  our 
soul  affinity,  but  we  shall  behave  not  according  to 
the  laws  he  may  lay  down,  but  according  to  those 
of  our  own  personality.  We  are  not  concerned 
with  the  justification  of  his  theories,  but  with 
the  satisfaction  of  our  own  individuality.  The 
explanation,  therefore,  of  the  influence  which  one 
person  exerts  over  another  must  be  sought,  not 
so  much  in  the  application  of  general  rules,  as  in 
the  accurate  appreciation  of  the  particular  relations 
between  the  two.  There  is  an  explanation  which 
accounts  for  the  fact,  though  it  may  not  be  possible 
to  bring  it  under  any  general  rule.  The  response 
of  one  nature  to  another  is  not  irrational,  but  it  is 
essentially  individualistic. 


I        AN  ISRAEL  BUT  NOT  A  JACOB        3 

One  of  the  chief  factors  in  the  personal  in- 
fluence which  one  character  exercises  over  another, 
is  due  to  the  presence  of  a  sympathy  which 
is  anticipative  rather  than  responsive.  To  the 
sympathy  which  responds  to  our  varying  moods, 
we  answer  with  affection,  but  to  the  sympathy 
which  reads  us  and  understands  our  moods,  we 
respond  with  devotion.  In  the  first  case  we 
recognise  the  reflex  action  of  our  own  feelings, 
in  the  other  case  we  perceive  the  presence  of  a 
nature  which  acts  upon  us,  and  an  influence  which 
moves  and  controls  us.  The  sympathetic  nature 
which  is  merely  responsive,  is  a  companion  with 
whom  we  can  have  fellowship,  but  the  sympathetic 
nature  which  is  anticipative,  dominates  us  with  its 
influence  either  for  good  or  evil.  The  one  can 
read  the  present,  the  other  reads  past,  present, 
and  future,  infers  the  past  from  the  present,  and 
anticipates  the  future.  The  former  knows  as 
much  or  as  little  as  we  like  to  reveal,  the  other 
has  a  kind  of  telepathic  knowledge  of  us,  and 
seems  to  understand  us  better  than  we  do  our- 
selves. It  is  this  superior  knowledge  which  lays 
its  spell  upon  us,  and  brings  us  under  that 
dominating  influence  which  others  do  not  and 
cannot  understand.  There  is  no  hypnotism,  for 
we  have  not  lost  our  personality,  but  we  have 
found  some  one  who  knows  us  better  than  we 
know  ourselves,  and  in  whose  judgment  we  have 
greater  confidence. 


4      CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST       i 

It  is  the  richness  of  Christ's  sympathy  in  both 
these  respects,  which  accounts  for  that  remark- 
able personal  influence  which  He  seems  to  have 
possessed  over  His  disciples.  His  sympathy  was 
both  responsive  and  anticipative.  He  knew  what 
was  in  men  ;  He  could  read  character  as  other  men 
read  books  ;  He  could  understand  moods  and 
anticipate  feelings  in  a  way  which  was  unique. 
His  nature  was,  as  it  were,  telepathic,  and  He  was 
keenly  sensitive  to  what  in  these  days  we  are 
accustomed  to  call  the  psychological  moment. 
This  is  perhaps  most  evident  in  those  seemingly 
sudden  calls  which  He  addressed  to  His  disciples, 
and  the  equally  sudden  response  which  they  made 
to  His  call.  This  is  well  illustrated  in  the  call 
of  Nathaniel,  which  in  this  respect  is  the  most 
remarkable  of  them  all. 

The  information  we  have  about  Nathaniel  is 
very  meagre.  His  name  is  not  mentioned  by  the 
Synoptists  in  their  list  of  the  disciples,  though  it 
has  been  conjectured  that  he  is  the  same  as  the 
Bartholomew  who  is  generally  associated  with 
Philip  in  their  lists.  Supposing  this  to  be  the 
case,  they  give  us  no  information  even  about  Bar- 
tholomew. We  are  dependent  upon  the  Gospel 
according  to  John,  and  to  its  account  of  his  call, 
for  all  the  information  we  possess  of  him.  Slight 
though  this  is,  there  are  a  few  touches  which 
give  definiteness  to  an  otherwise  shadowy  figure. 
Apparently  he  was  a  friend  of  Philip,  to  whom  he 


I        AN  ISRAEL  BUT  NOT  A  JACOB       5 

owed  his  introduction  to  Jesus,  and  possibly  also 
of  Philip's  fellow -townsmen,  Andrew  and  Peter. 
Philip  having  responded  to  the  invitation  of  Christ 
to  be  one  of  His  disciples,  hastens  to  tell  his  friend 
Nathaniel  of  the  discovery  which  he  and  his  two  com- 
panions have  made.  There  would  seem  to  have 
been  a  common  understanding  between  them  as  to 
the  interests  of  life  about  which  they  were  solicitous. 
They  were  evidently  religious  men,  and  as  such 
the  theme  of  chief  moment  was  the  coming  of  the 
Messiah  of  whom  Moses  and  the  Prophets  had 
written.  Excited  with  the  importance  of  the  dis- 
covery he  had  made,  Philip  wastes  no  time  over  pre- 
liminaries, but  eagerly  announces  his  news.  *'  We 
have  found  Him  about  whom  Moses  in  the  Law 
wrote,  and  also  the  Prophets, — Jesus,  the  son  of 
Joseph,  a  man  of  Nazareth."  Nathaniel  is  a  man 
whose  mind  moves  slowly,  who  needs  time  to  think, 
and  who  is  not  at  all  in  the  habit  of  accepting  every 
opinion  which  is  offered  to  him.  He,  too,  has  his 
own  ideas  of  the  Messiah  of  prophecy,  and  has  been 
meditating  much  upon  His  coming.  Evidently 
his  ideas  are  such  as  do  not  readily  fit  in  with  any 
local  personage.  His  own  and  the  neighbouring 
village  of  Nazareth  are  hardly  the  places  in  which 
he  would  be  prepared  to  look  for  the  promised 
Messiah.  He  is  too  well  acquainted  with  the 
condition  of  things  there  to  expect  much  from 
such  a  quarter.  His  conception  of  the  Messiah 
is  too  exalted   to  accord  well  with  the  probable 


6      CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST       i 

character  of  a  man  of  Nazareth.  "  Can  anything 
good  come  out  of  Nazareth  ?  ''  It  is  too  near  his 
own  home  to  be  able  to  produce  anything  but  the 
commonplace.  It  is  far  too  ordinary  a  town  to  be 
the  birthplace  of  the  Messiah  of  his  expectations. 
Philip  is  a  sympathetic  friend,  but  he  has  not  the 
telepathic  nature  which  can  influence  one  of  Na- 
thaniel's stamp.  He  knows,  however.  One  who 
has,  and  wisely  contents  himself  with  answering, 
"  Come  and  see." 

Nathaniel's  pace  is  all  too  slow  for  Philip's 
eagerness.  His  manner  is  too  phlegmatic  for 
Philip's  enthusiasm.  The  distance  is  travelled 
in  silence,  each  being  busy  with  his  own  thoughts. 
At  length  they  are  near  enough  for  Nathaniel  to 
get  his  first  view  of  this  man  of  Nazareth  who  has 
made  such  an  impression  upon  his  friend.  Before, 
however,  he  has  even  scanned  the  face,  the  hps 
open,  and  he  is  astonished  with  the  words,  "  See, 
here  comes  an  Israel  but  not  a  Jacob  ;  a  true 
Israelite  in  whom  there  is  no  deceit."  The  words 
are  no  mere  hasty  character-reading,  such  as  can 
be  described  in  abstract  terms.  There  is  a  personal 
reference  which  implies  an  intimate  knowledge. 
A  past  experience  is  suddenly  revived  in  Nathaniel's 
mind.  He  takes  no  notice  of  the  testimony  to 
his  sincerity,  which  is  but  the  superficial  meaning 
of  the  words.  It  is  the  distinction  between  a 
Jacob  and  an  Israel  upon  which  his  mind  is  centred. 
Where  was  it  that  that  struggle  took  place  between 


I        AN  ISRAEL  BUT  NOT  A  JACOB       7 

the  meaner  and  the  nobler  nature  within  him  ? 
Surely  he  was  alone  at  the  time,  and  the  wrestling 
was  in  his  own  mind  and  heart.  How  could  this 
man  of  Nazareth  know  anything  about  it  ?  They 
had  never  met  before,  and  not  even  Philip  knew 
the  severe  struggle  through  which  he  had  passed. 
"  An  Israel  and  not  a  Jacob ''  !  Yes,  that  was 
exactly  descriptive  of  the  struggle  through  which 
he  had  come  and  had  prevailed.  But  how  did  this 
man  know  it  ?  His  astonishment  expresses  itself  in 
the  question,  "  How  can  you  possibly  know  me  ? " 
"  Before  Philip  called  you,  when  you  were 
under  the  fig-tree  I  saw  you,"  Christ  answers. 
It  is  the  simplicity  in  the  reply  which  makes  it 
forcible  to  Nathaniel.  It  is  its  connection  with 
the  previous  remark  which  flashes  intelligence  into 
Nathaniel's  mind.  The  possession  of  a  kind  ot 
supernatural  vision,  which  most  commentators 
seem  to  see  in  the  words,  is  not  what  strikes 
Nathaniel.  It  is  rather  the  insight  into  his  nature 
and  inner  life,  which  strikes  with  the  force  of  con- 
viction into  his  mind.  Any  one,  even  though  un- 
noticed by  himself,  might  have  seen  him  under  the 
fig-tree,  but  who  could  know  the  struggle  between 
the  Jacob  of  his  birth  and  the  Israel  of  his  striving, 
between  the  meanness  of  his  actual  and  the  noble- 
ness of  his  ideal,  of  which  that  struggle  under 
the  fig-tree  was  the  type  and  symbol?  The 
link  of  time  and  place  which  his  mind  has  been 
vainly  seeking  is  supplied.     It  was  under  that  fig- 


8      CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST       i 

tree  that  his  wrestling  took  place,  and  the  nobler 
Israel  triumphed  over  the  meaner  Jacob.  It  was 
not  that  this  Man  of  Nazareth  had  seen  him  when 
he  thought  himself  alone,  nor  even  that  He  had 
noticed  his  mental  struggle, — another  might  have 
done  that, — but  it  was  that  He  had  both  seen  and 
understood,  had  both  discerned  and  interpreted. 
Nathaniel  had  never  understood  himself ;  his  life 
had  been  an  enigma  to  him  ;  along  with  the  loftiest 
aspirations  he  had  discovered  unutterable  depths 
of  meanness  in  his  nature.  The  experience 
through  which  he  had  passed  on  that  memorable 
day  under  the  fig-tree  had  been  typical  of  his 
whole  life,  though  he  had  not  realised  it  at  the 
time.  Yet  this  stranger  whom  he  had  never  seen, 
and  with  whom  he  had  never  talked,  had  explained 
in  a  single  sentence  the  riddle  of  his  life.  He  had 
done  more  than  explain  the  past,  He  had  inter- 
preted the  present,  and  His  forecast  of  the  future 
inspired  Nathaniel  with  new  hope,  by  declaring 
him  to  be  not  the  mean  and  deceitful  Jacob  of  his 
pessimistic  moods,  but  the  Israel  of  his  hopes  and 
striving.  The  conviction  is  borne  in  upon  his 
mind,  that  the  discovery  of  the  Messiah  which 
Philip  had  announced,  must  be  true.  This  must 
be  the  greater  Son  of  David,  Son  of  God,  and 
promised  King  of  Israel.  His  phlegmatic  nature 
is  at  last  aroused,  and  with  an  enthusiasm  even 
greater  than  that  of  Philip,  he  exclaims,  "  Rabbi, 
you  are  the  Son  of  God ;  you  are  the  King  of  Israel." 


I        AN  ISRAEL  BUT  NOT  A  JACOB       9 

Christ  notices  the  quick  response  to  a  just 
estimate  and  a  generous  interpretation,  and  pre- 
dicts much  from  one  who  possesses  so  sensitive  a 
nature.  Greater  things  were  in  store  for  an  Israel 
than  were  possible  for  a  Jacob.  The  heart  that 
was  so  quick  to  recognise  the  Divine,  on  finding 
itself  for  the  first  time  understood,  would  see 
greater  things  yet.  The  vision  which  Jacob  saw 
in  a  dream,  this  real  Israel  would  perceive  as  a 
fact.  In  place  of  the  ladder  of  Jacob's  dream 
connecting  heaven  and  earth,  the  Divine  and  the 
human,  he  would  see  the  Ideal  realised  in  the  Son 
of  Man  who  was  also  Son  of  God.  "  Because  I 
said  to  you,  I  saw  you  under  the  fig-tree,  do  you 
believe  in  Me  ?  You  shall  see  greater  things  than 
that.  In  most  solemn  truth  I  tell  you  that  you 
shall  see  heaven  opened  wide,  and  the  angels  of 
God  ascending  and  descending  on  the  Son  of 
Man." 

To  the  critical  mind  unillumined  by  sympathy, 
this  recognition  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  the  Messiah 
is  inexplicable.  The  grounds  for  it  are  so  lament- 
ably inadequate.  "  When  you  were  under  the 
fig-tree  I  saw  you,"  is  quite  incapable  of  producing 
the  reply,  "  You  are  the  Son  of  God  ;  you  are  the 
King  of  Israel."  A  true  criticism,  however,  is 
sympathetic  as  well  as  judicial,  it  is  appreciative  as 
well  as  intelligent.  It  distinguishes  between  the 
connotation  of  an  expression  at  diiferent  periods 
of  time,  and  between  the  objective  fact  and  the 


lo    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST       i 

subjective  appreciation  of  the  fact.  Nathaniel  is 
neither  a  Christian  theologian  on  the  one  hand, 
nor  a  Jewish  scribe  on  the  other.  His  expression, 
Son  of  God,  means  nothing  more  than  the  Messiah  ; 
but  his  Messiah  is  not  simply  the  Messiah  of  whom 
Moses  and  the  Prophets  wrote,  but  the  Messiah 
of  whom  Nathaniel  read  and  interpreted  according 
to  his  religious  needs.  There  is  a  Messiah  who 
satisfies  the  heart,  as  well  as  a  Messiah  who  satis- 
fies the  intellect ;  a  Messiah  who  fulfils  the  desires 
of  the  soul,  as  well  as  one  who  fulfils  the  Scrip- 
tures. The  recognition  of  the  one  is  intuitive, 
the  recognition  of  the  other  is  a  process  of  reason- 
ing. Nathaniel  had  read  the  prophecies  and  was 
probably  familiar  with  the  orthodox  interpretation, 
but  deep  down  in  the  man's  nature  there  was  an 
interpretation  of  the  prophecies  which  was  based 
upon  the  needs  of  his  own  heart.  When  he  found 
One  who  fulfilled  those  needs,  to  whom  his  secret 
longings  and  earnest  strivings  were  an  open  book, 
the  recognition  was  the  flash  of  intuition. 

It  was  this  response  of  the  heart  which  Christ 
sought  for  and  welcomed.  His  condemnation  of 
the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  for  their  failure  to  recog- 
nise Him,  was  not  a  condemnation  of  intellectual 
difficulties,  but  of  moral  obliquity.  They  studied 
the  technicalities  of  the  Law,  but  they  ignored  the 
intuitions  of  the  soul.  They  instituted  a  minute 
inquiry  into  the  letter  of  prophecy,  but  they  were 
indifl?erent    to    its    spirit.       They    searched    the 


I        AN  ISRAEL  BUT  NOT  A  JACOB     ii 

Scriptures  for  indications  of  the  place  of  the 
Messiah's  birth,  but  they  shut  their  eyes  to  His 
actual  presence.  What  the  babes  instinctively 
saw,  was  hidden  from  the  wise  and  prudent.  It  is 
the  response  of  the  heart  to  the  Divine  which  is 
the  essential  feature  of  the  religious  life,  just  as  it 
is  the  response  of  the  heart  to  the  Good  which  is 
essential  to  the  moral  life.  The  intellect  may  lag 
a  long  way  behind,  its  processes  of  reasoning  may 
require  a  much  longer  time  to  arrive  at  the  con- 
clusion, but  we  imperil  the  life  of  the  soul  when 
we  are  indifferent  to  its  intuitions.  Accuracy  in 
the  expression  of  the  truth  perceived  must  be  left 
to  the  intellect,  but  it  is  loyalty  to  the  truth 
perceived  which  is  the  essence  of  the  religious  life. 
Our  expressions  may  need  constant  revision,  but 
our  loyalty  must  not  waver.  When  we  have 
recognised  in  Jesus  the  Christ  which  the  heart 
needs,  loyalty  demands  that  we  should  leave  all 
and  follow  Him. 


II 

THE    RATIONALIST 
John  iii.  1-2 1. 

There  is  a  type  of  mind  which  is  compelled  to 
look  at  every  subject  from  the  standpoint  of  pure 
reason,  and  whose  only  method  of  apprehension  is 
by  the  exercise  of  the  logical  faculty.  Its  outlook 
is  broad  enough  to  embrace  every  department  of 
life,  but  its  only  avenue  of  approach  is  the  narrow 
path  of  the  critical  judgment  and  the  strait  gate  of 
the  logical  syllogism.  There  is  a  bondage  of  the 
intellect  as  well  as  a  slavery  of  the  passions,  and 
the  reason  can  be  as  tyrannical  as  the  emotions. 
There  are  no  departments  of  human  interest  where 
the  contrast  between  the  reason  and  the  emotions 
is  so  marked  as  in  the  case  of  Art  and  Religion. 
They  both  appeal  to  the  intellectual  and  emotional 
side  of  human  nature,  and  for  their  truest  apprecia- 
tion, as  well  as  for  their  best  expression,  they  each 
need  the  exercise  of  both  faculties.  Neither  Art 
nor  Religion  can  be  dominated  by  either  the 
intellect  or  the  emotions  without  becoming  partial 

t2 


II  THE  RATIONALIST  13 

and  one-sided.  Under  the  tyranny  of  the  intellect 
Art  becomes  unnatural  ;  under  the  tyranny  of  the 
emotions  it  becomes  untrue.  Similarly,  Religion 
may  be  so  dominated  by  the  reason  as  to  be  lifeless, 
or  it  may  be  so  subject  to  the  emotions  as  to  be 
absolutely  noxious.  There  is  a  constant  tendency 
to  exalt  the  reason  above  the  emotions,  or  the 
emotions  above  the  reason  ;  to  regard  them  as  rivals 
instead  of  recognising  them  as  copartners.  Reason 
is  not  the  antithesis  of  faith,  nor  is  faith  a  sub- 
stitute for  reason.  There  are  things  which  the 
reason  cannot  perceive,  because  they  are  spiritually 
discerned.  There  are  spirits  which  need  to  be 
tried  by  the  critical  judgment  before  they  can  be 
pronounced  to  be  of  God.  Religion  is  an  art  as 
well  as  a  science,  and  for  its  just  appreciation  it 
needs  the  help  of  the  emotions  as  well  as  of  the 
intellect. 

Nicodemus  is  the  type  of  the  religious  rationalist, 
whose  only  faculty  of  perception  is  the  intellect. 
He  is  the  critic  in  the  sphere  of  religion,  whose 
reason  can  approve  the  things  that  are  excellent, 
but  whose  spirit  has  never  been  thrilled  by  a 
responsive  emotion.  His  mind  instinctively  recog- 
nises the  true,  but  his  soul  is  irresponsive  to  the 
beautiful.  He  thinks  in  logical  formulas  and 
speaks  in  syllogisms.  His  mind  is  a  rich  store- 
house of  convictions,  but  his  heart  is  destitute  of 
passion.  With  religion  as  a  branch  of  human 
knowledge  he  is  perfectly  familiar,  but  of  religion 


14    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST      ii 

as  the  art  of  true  living  he  is  utterly  ignorant.  An 
interview  between  such  a  man  and  Christ  is  full  of 
interest  and  instruction. 

The  statement  that  he  came  by  night  for  fear 
of  the  Jews,  which  is  usually  interpreted  as  marking 
him  out  as  a  secret  disciple,  is  far  more  likely  to  indi- 
cate the  sensitiveness  of  intellectual  pride  than  any 
fear  of  persecution.  Such  a  mind  shrinks  from  the 
fear  of  being  regarded  as  in  any  need  of  instruction 
more  than  from  anything  else.  It  is,  as  a  rule,  too 
serenely  philosophical  to  be  troubled  by  what  people 
may  think  of  its  convictions,  and  its  intellectual  life 
is  so  completely  removed  from  conduct  as  to  be  in 
little  danger  of  encountering  persecution.  Such 
a  man,  however,  has  so  long  regarded  himself  as 
self-sufficient,  that  the  thought  of  going  to  an  out- 
sider for  instruction,  and,  above  all,  of  being  seen 
on  such  an  errand,  is  intolerable.  There  may  be 
little  likelihood  of  his  being  so  regarded,  but  his 
self-consciousness  causes  mere  shadows  to  appear 
like  substances,  and  makes  him  go  out  of  his  way 
to  avoid  them.  The  attraction,-  however,  which 
the  unknown  has  produced  is  too  keen  to  allow 
him  to  keep  away,  and  he  will  seek  for  an  oppor- 
tunity of  doing  secretly  what  he  shrinks  from 
doing  openly.  A  ruler  of  the  Jews  would  naturally 
not  like  to  be  seen  going  to  the  young  Prophet  of 
Nazareth,  and  though  he  might  be  willing  to  sacri- 
fice his  own  self-esteem,  he  would  hesitate  to  lose 
the  esteem  of  the  people.      The  interview  itself 


II  THE  RATIONALIST  15 

lends  no  support  to  the  idea  of  secret  discipleship. 
The  contrast  between  opposite  natures,  rather  than 
the  sympathy  between  congenial  spirits,  is  the 
dominant  note  in  the  conversation.  Christ  seems 
to  be  conscious  of  the  presence  of  the  representative 
of  a  party  rather  than  of  a  would-be  disciple,  while 
Nicodemus  finds  himself  in  a  region  of  antipathies 
with  which  he  has  nothing  in  common,  rather  than 
in  the  presence  of  a  master  mind  with  whom  he  is 
in  sympathetic  accord  as  an  eager  disciple.  There 
is  repulsion  rather  than  attraction,  a  recognition  of 
incompatibility  rather  than  the  communion  of 
kindred  spirits.  In  Nicodemus  Christ  finds  the 
spirit  which  rejects  testimony,  the  intellectual  strait 
gate  which  can  admit  nothing  in  the  shape  of  faith. 
Just  in  the  same  way  Nicodemus  finds  in  Christ, 
not  the  philosopher  whom  he  sought,  but  the  mystic 
whom  he  cannot  understand.  His  logical  faculties 
have  no  room  for  their  display ;  his  critical  judgment, 
accustomed  to  weigh  arguments  and  analyse  pre- 
misses, is  utterly  at  fault  in  the  presence  of  a  deep 
religious  experience,  and  the  quick  insight  of 
personal  faith.  He  visits  the  studio  of  the  great 
painter  in  the  capacity  of  the  art  critic,  rather  than 
as  the  enthusiastic  disciple  anxious  to  be  admitted 
as  a  pupil  of  the  Great  Master. 

His  opening  sentence  reveals  the  capacity  in 
which  his  visit  is  made,  and  the  type  of  mind 
which  he  represents.  "  We  know  that  you  are  a 
teacher  come  from  God,  for  no  one  can  do  the 


i6    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST      ii 

works  which  you  are  doing  except  God  be  with 
him."  The  plural  pronoun  is  the  substitute  for 
an  impersonal  cult  or  school  of  thought ;  the 
conjunction  which  introduces  the  reason  for  his 
opinion  reveals  the  mind  accustomed  to  move 
along  the  formal  processes  of  thought.  His  secret 
visit,  however,  precludes  the  idea  that  he  came 
merely  as  the  representative  of  a  class,  and  betrays 
a  personal  interest  which  must  not  be  ignored. 
He  is  conscious  of  the  impression  such  a  visit  is 
likely  to  produce,  and  therefore  endeavours  to 
express  in  an  impersonal  way  the  opinion  he  has 
formed.  This  is  both  easy  and  natural,  for  the 
type  of  mind  which  Nicodemus  represents  prides 
itself  on  arriving  at  its  conclusions  by  such  exact 
reasoning,  that  every  other  follower  of  reason 
must  perforce  arrive  at  the  same  conclusion.  He 
had  observed  both  the  Man  and  His  deeds,  and  by 
the  strictest  logic  had  concluded  that  such  deeds 
pointed  to  a  more  intimate  connection  between  the 
Teacher  and  God  than  he  was  accustomed  to  meet 
elsewhere.  Like  the  art  critic  he  had  studied  the 
painter's  pictures,  and  recognised  the  hand  of  the 
Master,  and  like  the  art  critic  who  has  discovered 
a  new  painter,  he  was  just  as  anxious  to  indicate 
his  own  penetration  as  to  pay  a  tribute  to  the 
painter's  genius. 

There  is  an  abruptness  in  the  answer  of  Christ 
which  is  designed  to  dispense  with  all  preliminaries, 
and  deal  with  essentials.     Religion  is  not  a  mere 


II  THE  RATIONALIST  17 

system  of  thought  upon  which  the  mind  can 
exercise  its  logic,  while  the  soul  is  untouched  and 
irresponsive.  It  is  a  life  produced  by  the  touch 
of  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  apart  from  that  contact, 
even  the  perception  of  spiritual  verities  is  impossible. 
The  reason  may  convince  us  of  the  existence  of 
God,  it  may  satisfy  us  of  the  reality  of  the  relation 
between  God  and  man,  but  it  can  never  enable  us 
to  perceive  the  beauty  of  that  life  of  communion 
with  God  which  is  the  very  heart  of  true  religion. 
Reason  is  the  activity  of  the  human  mind  working 
on  the  materials  presented  to  it,  and  though  it 
may  infer  a  Mind  above  the  human,  it  can  no 
more  attain  to  communion  with  that  Mind,  than 
the  man  can  lift  himself  to  the  starry  world  his 
eyes  behold.  Religion  is  the  activity  of  the  spirit 
responding  to  the  influence  of  the  Divine  Spirit ;  a 
life  of  feeling,  not  a  process  of  thought ;  a  divine 
conception  within  the  soul,  not  a  human  perception. 
In  the  deepest  sense  it  is  not  the  stretching  out  of 
lame  hands  to  find  a  God,  it  is  the  grasping  of  the 
outstretched  hand  of  God.  Its  origin  therefore  is 
from  above  and  not  from  beneath  ;  it  is  the  response 
of  the  soul  to  an  influence  from  above,  not  the 
erection  of  an  altar  to  an  unknown  power  to  which 
man  bows  in  subjection.  This  latter  conception 
man  by  his  reason  might  create,  but  the  former  he 
can  only  receive.  Until  this  influence  from  above 
has  touched  the  soul,  the  Divine  is  beyond  the 
mental  vision,  an  unseen  and  unknown  province 


1 8    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST      ii 

of  life.     "  Except  a  man  is  born  from  above,  he 
cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God.'' 

Nicodemus  is  as  much  disconcerted  by  this 
shifting  of  the  standpoint  as  he  is  mystified  by  the 
style  of  the  reply.  He  is  carried  out  of  the  region 
of  premisses  and  conclusions  in  which  his  mind  is 
in  the  habit  of  moving,  into  the  domain  of  the 
categorical  imperatives  of  conscience  and  the 
testimony  of  spiritual  insight.  He  is  at  home 
in  the  methods  of  what  Kant  has  called  the  Pure 
Reason,  but  the  affirmations  of  the  Practical 
Reason  are  as  disconcerting  as  they  are  perplexing. 
He  realises,  however,  that  underneath  the  metaphor 
employed,  an  entirely  new  process  for  the  acquisition 
of  knowledge  is  insisted  on  ;  that  all  his  previous 
training  is  of  no  avail,  and  that  he  is  asked  to 
make  a  fresh  start.  The  impossibility  of  such  a 
procedure  is  the  outstanding  fact  which  confronts 
him,  an  impossibility  as  great  as  the  physical  rebirth 
of  the  metaphor.  His  mind  has  developed  and 
grown  in  a  certain  definite  direction  quite  as  much 
as  his  body,  and  to  start  afresh  in  an  entirely 
different  direction  is  as  impossible  as  a  return  to 
infancy.  He  does  not  attempt  to  ridicule  the  use 
of  a  metaphor,  he  takes  it  up  and  applies  it.  He 
does  not  dispute  the  necessity  of  the  new  method, 
he  fails  to  see  its  possibility.  How  can  the  mind, 
he  argues,  which  has  grown  old  in  the  use  of  the 
methods  of  the  Pure  Reason,  and  has  known 
no  other,  suddenly  discard   them   and   apply  the 


II  THE  RATIONALIST  19 

methods  of  the  Practical  Reason.     As  well  expect 
the  old  man  to  start  again  as  the  new-born  child. 

In  His  reply  Christ  reaffirms  the  thought,  but 
expands  the  idea.  There  is  a  twofold  birth  for 
man,  because  there  is  a  twofold  nature  in  man. 
He  is  a  son  of  man,  but  he  is  also  a  son  of  God. 
The  one  is  an  actuality,  the  other  a  possibility. 
He  is  related  to  Nature,  and  therefore  there  is  a 
natural  birth  which  all  have  experienced  ;  he  is 
related  to  God,  and  therefore  there  may  be  a 
spiritual  birth.  As  long  as  a  man  is  only  conscious 
of  his  relationship  to  Nature,  he  is  merely  a  natural 
man,  the  result  of  a  natural  process.  To  be 
conscious  of  his  relationship  to  God,  his  soul  must 
be  responsive  to  the  touch  of  the  Divine  Spirit. 
The  germ  of  the  spiritual  is  in  him,  but  it  must 
be  quickened  into  life,  and  respond  to  the  influences 
of  the  spiritual  environment  in  which  alone  it  can 
live  and  move  and  have  its  being.  The  reason  is 
a  part  of  his  endowment  as  a  natural  man,  and  its 
operations  are  sufficient  for  all  his  relationship 
with  Nature,  but  it  deals  with  sense  impressions 
only,  and  as  long  as  it  is  thus  limited,  it  is  power- 
less to  bring  him  into  relations  with  the  spiritual. 
The  essence  of  the  religious  life,  however,  is  com- 
munion with  God,  a  response  of  the  human  to  the 
Divine  spirit.  The  quickening  of  the  spiritual, 
therefore,  is  absolutely  necessary  if  a  man  is  to 
enter  into  that  relation  with  the  Divine  Father 
which  constitutes  the  essence  of  the  religious  life. 


20    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST      ii 

There  is  no  need  for  astonishment  at  the  necessity 
for  a  spiritual  birth,  nor  is  there  any  reason  to 
regard  it  as  impossible.  It  is  mysterious,  no 
doubt,  but  so  are  many  of  even  Nature's  methods. 
The  eye  which  observes  Nature  and  her  operations 
cannot  see  her  breathing  in  the  rushing  wind,  but 
what  the  eye  cannot  see  the  ear  can  hear,  and 
though  the  origin  and  the  goal  are  alike  beyond 
the  reach  of  either  eye  or  ear,  man  recognises  the 
presence  of  one  of  Nature's  forces,  and  utilises  it 
to  bear  his  boat  across  the  lake,  and  carry  the 
chaff  away  from  his  wheat.  It  is  even  so  with  the 
breath  of  God,  the  Divine  Spirit.  The  reason 
may  not  perceive,  just  as  the  eye  does  not  see,  but 
the  spirit  of  man  feels  just  as  the  ear  hears,  and 
responding  to  the  inspiration  from  above,  enters 
into  a  new  kingdom  of  gracious  and  life-giving 
influences. 

The  pride  of  class  and  the  prejudice  of  early 
training  are  too  potent  with  Nicodemus  to  allow 
him  to  be  convinced.  Such  a  conception  of  the 
religious  life  is  a  complete  reversal  of  the  teaching 
of  the  schools,  and  subversive  of  the  religious 
organisation  in  which  he  has  been  brought  up. 
To  accept  it  would  mean  to  part  company  with 
the  traditions  of  the  past,  and  surrender  the 
position  and  power  he  at  present  enjoys.  A 
teaching  which  led  to  such  an  impossible  result 
must  surely  be  incredible.  He  feels  the  force  of 
what  has  been  said,  but  his  logical  mind  draws  the 


II 


THE  RATIONALIST  21 


inevitable  conclusion  from  the  new  premisses,  and 
he  shrinks  from  the  prospect  which  it  presents. 
Unconsciously  he  has  made  his  choice,  and  un- 
knowingly he  has  rejected  the  light.  Old  associa- 
tions have  claimed  and  secured  his  allegiance,  the 
ties  of  party  have  successfully  resisted  the  at- 
tractions of  the  unique  personality  of  the  Prophet 
of  Nazareth.  His  mind  has  been  too  long  ac- 
customed to  the  deductions  and  conclusions  of 
exact  reasoning  to  accept  the  testimony  of  a 
spiritual  experience. 

Christ  seems  conscious  of  the  crisis  through 
which  he  has  passed  and  of  the  choice  he  has 
made.  The  individuality  of  Nicodemus  has  been 
absorbed  in  the  character  of  the  official  teacher  of 
Israel,  his  personality  has  been  lost  in  the  member- 
ship of  a  party.  The  privacy  of  the  interview  is 
at  an  end  ;  the  man  before  him  is  henceforth  an 
official ;  his  opinions  are  the  views  of  a  party  ;  his 
attitude  is  that  of  the  body  of  Scribes  and  Pharisees 
with  which  he  has  identified  himself  The  con- 
versation, therefore,  is  no  longer  of  the  nature  of 
a  private  interview :  it  passes  into  the  nature  of  a 
public  discourse.  This  is,  at  least,  a  probable 
explanation  of  the  difference  noticeable  in  the 
remaining  part  of  the  chapter.  The  transition, 
however,  is  perfectly  natural.  Here  is  one  who 
professes  to  be  a  teacher  of  religion,  whose  whole 
training  and  upbringing  have  been  intended  to  fit 
him  for  the  position  he  occupies,  and  to  which  he 


22    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST      ii 

so  tenaciously  clings,  and  yet  who  is  in  utter 
ignorance  of  the  very  elements  of  the  subject. 
He  is  a  teacher  of  spiritual  things,  but  without  a 
spiritual  experience  himself,  and  incapable  or  un- 
willing to  appreciate  one  when  it  is  presented  to 
him.  Ignorant  himself,  he  is  unwilling  to  learn 
from  those  who  know  ;  destitute  of  any  evidence 
of  the  spiritual  himself,  he  rejects  the  testimony 
which  others  can  offer  him.  If  he  will  not  accept 
the  elementary  truth  of  the  necessity  for  a  spiritual 
birth,  how  is  it  possible  to  impart  the  deeper  truths 
of  the  higher  life  which  results  from  that  birth  ? 
The  man  whose  sole  guide  is  the  light  of  his  own 
natural  reason  working  on  the  results  of  sense 
impression,  cannot  possibly  penetrate  beyond  the 
veil  which  conceals  the  spiritual.  No  one  ever 
has  or  ever  will  do  it.  That  which  is  at  the  heart 
of  all  religious  life,  however,  is  not  the  conception 
of  an  unaided  ascent  into  the  higher  life  of  the 
spiritual :  it  is  the  conception  of  a  descent  of  the 
Divine  into  the  human  life,  for  the  purpose  of 
lifting  that  lower  life  to  a  higher  plane.  Man  is 
not  asked  to  make  himself  divine,  he  is  only  asked 
to  recognise  and  respond  to  the  Divine  when  it  is 
presented  to  him.  Though  an  ascent  has  never 
been  made,  a  descent  of  the  Divine  into  the  human 
has  been  made,  and  stands  confronting  Nicodemus 
as  he  talks.  Humanity  apart  from  God  is  spiritu- 
ally moribund,  as  Nicodemus  himself  bears  witness. 
It  attains  the  more  abundant  life  only  as  it  recog- 


ir  THE  RATIONALIST  23 

nises  the  Divine  Ideal,  and  fixing  its  gaze  upon 
the  true  Son  of  Man,  is  changed  into  His  image. 
Like  the  old  story  of  life  through  faith  in  the 
brazen  serpent,  the  life  which  is  life  indeed, 
permanent  and  abiding,  is  obtained  through  faith 
in  the  Son  of  Man,  the  ideal  of  the  Divine  con- 
ception. 

Whether  the  remainder  of  the  chapter  is  a 
continuation  of  the  interview,  or  the  evangelist's 
comment  on  the  interview,  it  is  difficult  to  say. 
The  connection,  however,  in  the  thought  is  not 
difficult  to  see.  The  secret  of  the  religious  life  is 
not  to  be  found  in  the  conception  of  man  seeking 
God,  but  in  the  truth  of  God  seeking  man.  It  is 
not  the  heart  of  man  yearning  to  express  its  love 
for  the  Creator,  it  is  the  heart  of  God  yearning  to 
express  its  love  for  His  erring  children.  This  is 
the  meaning  of  the  presence  of  the  Son  of  Man, 
the  unique  Son  of  the  Father.  He  has  come  not 
for  condemnation  but  for  salvation,  not  to  bring 
death  but  life,  and  life  in  richer  abundance.  The 
life,  however,  is  obtained  not  by  the  exercise  of 
the  logical  faculty,  but  by  the  recognition  and 
loyal  acceptance  of  the  Son  whom  the  Father  has 
sent  as  humanity's  ideal,  and  by  the  outgoing  of 
the  heart  of  man  in  a  loving  confidence  in  the 
Divine  Father.  He  who  accepts  that  Divine  ideal, 
believing  that  through  Him  is  obtained  the  life 
which  is  life  indeed,  is  never  called  up  to  receive 
the  sentence  of  condemnation  which  his  past  de- 


24    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST      ii 

serves.  The  rejection  of  the  Divine,  however,  the 
refusal  to  respond  to  the  influence  from  above, 
inevitably  leads  to  condemnation  and  death.  This 
indeed  is  the  test  by  which  all  men  must  be  judged 
— their  acceptance  or  rejection  of  the  light.  It  is 
not  mental  perplexity  but  moral  obliquity  which 
keeps  men  away  from  the  light.  It  is  the  fear  of 
self-condemnation  for  moral  offences  which  pre- 
vents men  from  bringing  their  actions  and  motives 
into  the  light  of  God's  ideal.  And  it  is  this 
deliberate  rejection  of  the  highest  which  marks  the 
difference  between  the  evil  and  the  good,  the 
honest  and  the  dishonest,  the  sincere  and  the 
insincere.  It  is  not  perception  of  truth  which 
secures  Christ's  approval,  but  loyalty  to  the  truth 
perceived  ;  it  is  not  mental  perplexity  which  calls 
forth  His  condemnation,  it  is  moral  obliquity. 


Ill 


SATIATED    BUT    NOT    SATISFIED 
John  iv.  4-42. 

The  two  great  impelling  forces  in  human  nature 
are  the  intellect  and  the  emotions.  In  the  majority 
of  cases  the  two  are  fairly  evenly  balanced  and  in 
moderate  proportion.  In  some,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  one  or  the  other  preponderates,  and  the  life  is 
the  response  to  the  stimulus  of  a  great  mind,  or  the 
impulse  of  a  great  passion.  The  ethical  quality  of 
a  life  is  not  determined  by  either  an  excess  of 
intellect  over  emotion,  or  of  emotion  over  intellect. 
They  are  but  forces  which  move,  not  the  director 
which  controls.  In  many  cases,  however,  the 
absorption  of  a  great  mind,  or  the  intensity  of  a 
great  passion,  while  powerless  to  produce  a  positive 
morality,  is  potent  to  induce  a  negative  one.  A 
man  may  be  too  intellectual  to  be  vicious,  he  may 
be  too  aesthetic  to  be  sensual.  The  perception  of 
the  true  may  be  too  vivid  to  allow  of  the  attraction 
of  evil,  the  response  to  the  beautiful  may  be  too 
entire  to  allow  of  the  fascination  of  vice.     While 

25 


26    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     iii 

it  is  true  that  the  thinker  may  be  a  libertine,  and 
the  poet  or  artist  a  rake,  they  are  so  not  by  virtue 
of,  but  in  spite  of,  their  intellectual  strength  or  their 
aesthetic  taste.  Vice  in  their  case  is  due  to  the  re- 
action of  their  nature,  rather  than  to  the  action  of 
their  ruling  passion.  There  is  a  much  closer  con- 
nection between  these  great  operative  forces  in 
human  nature  and  morality  when  they  are  in  defect 
than  when  they  are  in  excess.  The  shallow  mind 
and  the  hollow  heart  are  indications  of  a  nature 
peculiarly  prone  to  follow  the  indications  of  fancy 
and  the  inclinations  of  a  passing  feeling.  In  such 
minds  there  are  no  convictions  which  rule  as 
masters,  but  only  fancies  which  visit  as  guests  ;  in 
such  hearts  there  are  no  great  passions  which  make 
their  home  within,  but  only  transient  feelings 
which  find  a  temporary  lodging.  Thoughts  have 
no  room  to  expand  into  convictions  ;  feelings  have 
no  time  to  become  passions.  Such  minds  are 
clearing-houses,  through  which  all  kinds  of 
merchandise  are  indiscriminately  received  and 
despatched,  not  treasure-houses  in  which  the  jewels 
and  precious  stones  of  thought  are  carefully 
deposited  and  jealously  guarded.  Such  hearts  are 
hotels  in  which  all  sorts  of  feelings  are  provided 
with  a  room,  not  homes  in  which  the  elect  are 
cherished  and  nurtured. 

The  woman  of  Samaria  is  a  typical  illustration 
of  the  nature  in  which  fleeting  fancy  has  usurped 
the  place  of  settled  conviction,  and  passing  feeling 


Ill     SATIATED  BUT  NOT  SATISFIED    27 

has  seized  the  throne  of  a  purifying  passion.  She 
can  talk  on  any  subject,  but  she  has  convictions  on 
none.  She  has  many  lovers  but  no  husband  ;  she 
quickly  grasps  an  idea  and  as  quickly  forgets  it. 
Her  affection  is  as  easily  gained  as  it  is  quickly 
lost.  There  is  a  fascination  in  her  which  speedily 
captivates,  but  she  has  no  power  to  retain  her 
prize.  Her  pleasure  is  in  the  capture,  not  in  the 
possession.  The  capture  is  an  exhilaration,  the 
retention  is  a  weariness.  The  old  love  satiates,  the 
new  alone  affords  her  pleasure.  Such  apparently  is 
the  character  of  the  woman  who  with  the  water- 
pot  deftly  balanced  upon  her  head,  and  the  refrain 
of  the  latest  song  upon  her  lips,  comes  from  the 
neighbouring  village  of  Sychar  to  the  well  where 
sat  the  Great  Unknown. 

The  natural  request  of  a  tired  and  thirsty  way- 
farer which  Christ  prefers,  is  addressed  to  one  who 
is  more  accustomed  to  speak  without  thinking  than 
to  think  without  speaking.  The  astonishment 
which  another  woman  might  have  felt  but  would 
not  have  expressed,  this  one  at  once  gives 
expression  to.  Another  might  have  been  glad  of 
the  opportunity  of  avoiding  a  conversation  with  a 
stranger  by  at  once  acceding  to  His  request  ;  this 
one  is  glad  of  the  opportunity  of  a  conversation, 
and  therefore  postpones  acceding  to  the  request. 
Her  curiosity  must  be  satisfied  before  the  stranger's 
thirst  is  allayed.  Her  interest  is  aroused  in  this 
unknown  stranger.     He  is  evidently  a  Jew,  but  no 


28    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     m 

ordinary  one,  or  He  would  never  have  asked  a 
Samaritan  for  a  drink,  however  thirsty  He  might 
have  been.  She  expresses  her  astonishment  and 
asks  for  an  explanation. 

The  question  was  a  simple  one,  but  it  appealed 
to  the  instincts  of  the  Great  Teacher,  dispelling  His 
weariness  and  banishing  His  thirst.  It  was  but 
a  woman's  curiosity,  but  it  betokened  a  quick 
perception  and  an  inquiring  mind.  She  had  used 
her  opportunity  for  opening  a  conversation.  He 
would  use  His  for  imparting  instruction.  She 
had  perceived  that  though  His  request  was  an 
ordinary  one,  it  denoted  that  He  was  no  ordinary 
Jew.  If  she  knew  who  He  really  was,  and  what 
her  own  actual  need  was,  the  positions  might  have 
been  reversed,  and  she  have  been  the  asker  and  He 
the  giver.  "  If  you  had  known  that  other  free 
gift  of  God,  and  who  it  is  who  asks  you  for  a 
drink  of  water,  you  would  have  asked  of  Him,  and 
He  would  have  given  you  living  water."  Her 
knowledge  of  life  is  superficial,  not  deep.  She 
perceives  the  obvious,  but  not  the  more  recondite. 
She  can  understand  a  physical  need,  she  has  no 
knowledge  of  a  spiritual  want.  She  can  see  that 
He  is  no  common  Jew,  she  does  not  yet  perceive 
that  He  is  a  prophet.  She  understands  that  He  is 
thirsty,  she  does  not  realise  that  her  own  soul  is 
parched.  If  her  knowledge  were  deeper,  she  would 
perceive  that  He  is  other  than  He  seems,  and 
she  herself  would  soon  become  other  than  she  is. 


Ill     SATIATED  BUT  NOT  SATISFIED    29 

There  is  a  touch  of  pique  in  the  answer  she 
makes.  She  has  been  accustomed  to  shallow 
flattery,  and  resents  the  commiseration  she  thinks 
she  perceives  in  the  reply.  The  good  opinion  she 
has  of  herself  has  been  touched,  and  her  resentment 
manifests  itself  in  the  veiled  sarcasm  which  is 
characteristic  of  a  little  mind.  With  a  woman's 
ingenuity,  however,  she  conceals  it  under  the  mask 
of  a  well-feigned  astonishment.  ''  Sir,"  she  answers, 
"  you  have  nothing  to  draw  with,  and  the  well  is 
deep.  From  where  then  do  you  get  this  living 
water  ?  Are  you  greater  than  our  forefather  Jacob, 
who  gave  us  the  well,  and  drank  of  it  himself,  as 
did  also  his  sons  and  his  cattle  .f^"  Whatever 
curiosity  she  feels  is  confined  to  the  person,  it 
does  not  extend  to  the  subject  of  which  He  speaks. 
The  living  water  is  only  water,  the  thirst  which 
it  allays  is  merely  physical.  She  perhaps  has  a 
suspicion  that  He  may  be  a  magician,  she  has 
not  yet  the  conviction  that  He  must  be  a  prophet. 

Christ  is  as  unmindful  of  the  sarcasm  as  He  is  of 
His  own  thirst ;  He  is  as  mindful  of  the  woman's 
need  as  He  is  regardless  of  her  curiosity.  That 
she  should  understand  what  He  says,  is  more 
necessary  than  that  she  should  know  who  He  is  ; 
that  she  should  recognise  the  superiority  of  the 
living  water  is  of  greater  importance  than  that  she 
should  acknowledge  His  pre-eminence  over  Jacob. 
He  is  more  anxious  to  stir  her  spiritual  nature 
than   to    satisfy    her   idle   curiosity.     There    is  a 


30    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     iii 

deeper  thirst  than  the  water  with  which  she  is 
familiar  can  allay ;  there  is  a  perennial  spring 
which  invests  life  with  a  deeper  joy  than  she  is 
acquainted  with.  The  only  pleasure  with  which 
she  is  familiar  is  one  that  soon  palls,  the  surface 
knowledge  of  life  which  she  possesses  quickly 
satiates  but  never  satisfies.  The  thoughts  and 
ideas  to  which  she  gives  a  ready  access  are  but 
vagrants  of  the  mind,  night  revellers  who  depart 
as  readily  as  they  come,  and  whose  presence  is 
marked  by  the  refuse  and  defilement  they  leave 
behind.  There  are  nobler  conceptions  and  higher 
ideals,  whose  presence  would  enrich  and  grace  the 
home,  which  would  come  not  to  sojourn  but  to 
abide.  The  passing  fancy  which  she  so  readily 
harbours  in  her  heart  as  quickly  departs,  leaving 
her  weary  and  unsatisfied  still.  There  is  a  deeper 
and  nobler  passion  which  ennobles  and  purifies. 
"  Every  one  who  drinks  of  this  water  shall  thirst 
again,  but  he  who  drinks  of  the  water  which  I  can 
give  him,  never  thirsts,  but  has  a  perennial  spring 
which  never  runs  dry,  and  which  can  never  be 
exhausted."  Christ  sees  the  true  woman  beneath 
the  domino  in  which  she  masquerades  ;  He  hears 
the  sigh  of  a  weary  soul  above  the  hollow  laugh, 
and  divines  the  aching  heart  beneath  the  disguise 
of  a  smiling  face. 

His  words  have  as  yet  only  penetrated  the 
outer  ear  of  sense,  not  the  inner  ear  of  her  soul. 
She    thinks  only  of  the  continual  coming  to  the 


Ill     SATIATED  BUT  NOT  SATISFIED    31 

well  for  the  daily  supply  ;  she  is  conscious  only  of 
the  thirst  which  the  hot  day  and  oppressive  night 
induce.  Half  in  earnest  and  half  in  mockery  she 
replies,  "  Sir,  give  me  that  kind  of  water,  that  I 
may  never  be  thirsty  again,  nor  be  compelled  to 
come  all  the  way  here  to  draw."  She  has  so  long 
ministered  to  the  outer  senses  that  the  inner  ones 
are  dull  and  torpid.  The  superficial  has  so  long 
absorbed  her,  that  it  is  difficult  to  arouse  her 
interest  in  the  deeper  things  of  the  spirit.  She 
has  grown  so  accustomed  to  the  loud  and  coarse 
voices  of  sense,  that  the  still  small  voice  of  her 
truer  self  passes  unnoticed.  Her  conversation  has 
consisted  of  the  flippant  word  and  the  unmeaning 
expression  ;  her  mind  has  worked  automatically, 
the  careless  answer  following  quick  upon  the 
careless  question,  without  effort  on  her  part.  It 
needs  the  shock  of  an  apparently  abrupt  and 
startling  inconsequence  to  divert  it  from  the 
trivial  to  the  serious,  to  change  its  automatic 
responses  to  the  conscious  answers  of  an  earnest 
and  thoughtful  mind.  "  Go  and  call  your  husband, 
and  come  back  again.'* 

As  far  as  the  woman  is  concerned  there  is  an 
abrupt  break  in  the  conversation,  as  far  as  Christ 
is  concerned  there  is  a  distinct  logical  sequence. 
He  has  been  speaking  to  the  woman's  inner  self, 
she  has  been  listening  and  responding  with  her 
outer  self.  She  has  been,  as  it  were,  carrying  on 
a  conversation  at  a  distance  by  means  of  a  tele- 


32    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    iii 

phone  ;  suddenly  there  is  a  cessation,  and  she  is 
startled  by  the  same  voice  speaking  close  beside 
her.  He  has  been  speaking  in  metaphor,  while 
she  has  been  interpreting  literally.  He  suddenly 
drops  the  metaphor,  and  with  startling  directness 
uses  plainness  of  speech.  She  has  asked  for  the 
living  water  that  she  may  never  be  thirsty  again, 
nor  be  compelled  to  come  constantly  for  a  fresh 
supply.  Christ  sees  that  unconsciously  she  has 
spoken  in  a  metaphor,  and  expressed  in  a  symbol 
the  tragedy  of  her  life.  She  has  substituted  the 
true  for  the  false,  and  her  life  is  a  weary  and  end- 
less attempt  to  satisfy  a  thirst  which  the  water 
with  which  she  is  familiar  fails  to  quench.  She 
has  no  husband  to  satisfy  the  love  of  a  deep  and 
passionate  nature,  and  therefore  she  is  thirsty  still. 
She  has  tried  many  lovers  as  substitutes,  and  she  is 
weary  of  the  constant  attempt  to  satisfy  a  quench- 
less thirst.  If  she  is  to  understand  anything  about 
the  living  water  she  asks  for  so  lightly,  she  must 
first  perceive  the  difference  between  the  real  and 
the  false.  To  her  the  way  of  salvation  lies  in 
discriminating  between  the  husband  her  nature 
needs,  and  the  lover  her  inclination  fancies.  Is  it 
water  to  drink  and  thirst  again,  or  living  water 
for  which  she  asks  ?  Hence  the  command — "  Go 
call  thy  husband." 

Husband  !  what  can  He  mean  ?  What  con- 
nection can  there  possibly  be  between  the  talk 
about  living  water  and  the  invitation  to  call  her 


Ill     SATIATED  BUT  NOT  SATISFIED    33 

husband.  Her  astonishment  this  time  at  the 
stranger's  request  is  too  deep  merely  to  arouse  her 
curiosity,  as  when  the  Jew  asked  the  Samaritan  for 
water.  The  artificial  woman  in  her  which  is  so 
ready  with  an  answer  is  silent,  and  the  real  woman 
who  is  so  seldom  heard  speaks.  The  lightness  of 
the  one  has  given  place  to  the  seriousness  of  the 
other.  There  is  neither  the  flippancy  of  a  coarse 
nature  nor  the  sensitiveness  of  a  refined  nature  in 
her  reply,  but  the  spontaneity  due  to  the  surprise 
of  her  natural  self.  She  does  not  stop  to  think 
what  her  words  mean  to  herself,  nor  what  im- 
pression they  will  produce  upon  the  stranger. 
His  abrupt  question  has  surprised  her  into  a 
confession  of  sin,  and  startled  her  into  an  avowal 
of  her  shame.  Before  she  knows  it,  the  words 
have  slipped  out,  "  I  have  no  husband." 

With  that  keen  insight  which  marks  the  sincere 
nature,  Christ  detects  the  half-truth  to  which  the 
woman  has  given  expression ;  with  the  delicate 
sensitiveness  which  marks  the  pure  nature.  He  is 
conscious  of  the  reality  which  is  concealed  beneath 
the  ambiguous  sentence.  "  You  are  correct  in 
saying  you  have  no  husband,  for  those  you  have 
had  are  husbands  no  more,  and  he  whom  you  now 
have  is  no  husband  at  all.  In  that  matter  you 
spoke  truer  than  you  intended."  The  water  of 
which  she  has  drunk  has  not  satisfied,  for  she  has 
indeed  thirsted  and  thirsted  again.  She  has  capti- 
vated the  eye,  but  she  has  failed  to  capture  the 


34    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     iii 

heart.  Divorce  has  followed  marriage,  and  mar- 
riage divorce  in  quick  succession.  She  has  gratified 
a  wish,  not  satisfied  a  passion  ;  she  has  pandered 
to  the  animal,  not  ministered  to  the  spiritual. 
The  temporary  has  had  more  attractions  than  the 
permanent ;  a  lodging  has  been  more  easily  pro- 
vided than  a  home.  She  has  tried  many  husbands 
but  found  no  true  lover  ;  she  has  tried  a  so-called 
lover,  but  found  he  is  no  husband.  She  is  thirsty 
still  in  spite  of  her  constant  visits  to  the  well ;  her 
home  is  desolate  in  spite  of  its  many  visitors.  "  I 
have  no  husband,"  is  not  the  mere  statement  of  a 
fact,  it  is  the  revelation  of  a  tragedy.  It  does  not 
merely  point  to  a  deserted  home,  it  indicates  a 
desolate  heart.  It  is  far  more  than  a  literal  fact, 
it  is  a  symbol  with  a  much  wider  significance. 
Her  life  has  been  the  pursuit  of  a  happiness  which 
has  eluded  her  grasp,  the  substitution  of  shadows 
for  substances,  a  carouse  which  has  satiated,  not  a 
feast  which  has  satisfied.  The  past  is  a  record  of 
disillusionment,  the  present  a  dissatisfaction,  the 
future  a  vision  of  weariness.  She  has  no  husband ; 
she  has  a  house,  but  no  bond  to  transform  it  into  a 
home.  She  has  a  mind  through  which  idle  fancies 
flit,  but  no  thought  to  change  them  into  cherished 
convictions  ;  she  has  a  heart  open  to  every  passing 
feeling,  but  with  no  deep  emotion  to  transfigure 
affection  into  a  pure  and  passionate  love.  She 
has  no  husband,  and  her  truer  nature  protests 
against  its  incompleteness. 


Ill     SATIATED  BUT  NOT  SATISFIED    35 

At  last  she  understands  something  of  the  true 
nature  of  the  stranger  with  whom  she  is  talking. 
The  deeper  meaning  of  His  words  has  forced 
itself  upon  her  attention.  He  is  not  a  magician, 
but  a  prophet ;  the  subject  of  conversation  is  not 
material,  but  religious.  Her  moral  feeling,  how- 
ever, is  too  deadened  to  be  quickened  by  a  word  ; 
her  conscience  has  been  too  long  neglected  for 
its  voice  to  be  familiar.  Religion,  as  she  under- 
stands it,  is  a  subject  with  which  she  thinks  she 
is  familiar.  It  has  formed  the  theme  of  many 
a  discussion,  its  speculations  have  afforded  her 
many  an  opportunity  for  sharpening  her  wit  at  the 
expense  of  her  neighbour.  The  controversy 
between  Jew  and  Samaritan  is  well  known  to  her, 
and  she  welcomes  the  opportunity  of  asking  this 
prophet  whom  she  has  discovered  for  His  view  on 
the  vexed  question.  "  Our  forefathers  worshipped 
on  this  mountain,  but  you  Jews  say  that  the  place 
where  people  ought  to  worship  is  Jerusalem." 
This  is  not  the  adroit  turning  of  the  conversation 
on  the  perception  that  it  is  becoming  too  serious, 
in  which  some  women  are  adepts.  It  is  the 
counter-attraction  of  a  new  subject,  which  has 
suddenly  come  into  her  mind,  by  the  perception 
of  the  character  of  the  person  with  whom  she  is 
conversing.  She  is  too  pleased  at  discovering  who 
the  stranger  is,  to  trouble  to  consider  what  she 
herself  is.  It  is  the  prick  of  curiosity,  not  the 
sting  of  conscience  under  which  she  is  acting.     To 


:^6    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     iii 

touch  upon  a  new  subject  is  more  attractive  to  her 
nature  than  to  follow  out  an  old  one.  She  has  as 
superficial  a  conception  of  religion  as  she  has  an 
unsatisfactory  view  of  morality.  A  correct  position 
is  of  more  importance  than  a  contrite  heart.  The 
place  of  worship  is  of  more  consideration  than  the 
spiritual  condition  of  the  worshipper. 

Christ  seems  to  realise  that  His  effort  to  arouse 
her  conscience  has  failed.  The  moral  instincts 
which  caused  her  at  first  to  conceal  the  looseness 
of  her  life  under  the  thin  veil  of  the  marriage 
ceremony  have  now  ceased  to  be  operative.  The 
proprieties  have  lost  their  influence  over  her.  The 
conscience  has  become  so  lifeless,  that  opiates  are 
no  longer  necessary.  The  phrase  which  would 
have  brought  the  blush  of  shame  to  her  cheek 
years  ago,  is  now  heard  with  indifference,  and 
treated  with  unconcern.  She  can  now  say  she  has 
no  husband,  with  all  that  it  implies,  and  think  no 
more  about  it.  She  has  had  a  stroke  of  moral 
paralysis  which  has  affected  one  side  of  her  nature. 
On  the  side  of  her  relations  to  her  neighbour,  she 
is  inacessible.  She  has  no  moral  feeling,  the 
nerves  are  incapable  of  responding  to  any  external 
stimulus.  If  she  is  to  be  touched  at  all,  it  must 
be  on  the  religious  side,  in  the  direction  of  her 
relation  to  God.  Here  there  is  some  slight  sign 
of  life,  some  faint  desire  to  know  what  is  right. 
It  is  nothing  more  than  the  desire  to  be  directed 
to  a  proper  place  of  worship,  but  even   that  is 


Ill     SATIATED  BUT  NOT  SATISFIED    37 

better  than  absolute  indifFerence.  Christ  therefore 
takes  up  the  question  she  has  asked,  and  seeks  to 
deepen  the  silted-up  channel  along  which  it  is 
alone  possible  for  some  higher  influence  to  reach 
her.  "A  time  is  coming,"  He  answers,  "when 
the  sanctity  of  place  will  give  way  to  sincerity  of 
worship  ;  when  both  Jew  and  Samaritan  will  feel 
that  it  is  of  more  consequence  how  they  worship, 
than  where  they  worship.  You  worship,"  He 
proceeds  to  say,  "  One  whom  you  do  not  really 
know  ;  of  whom  you  have  heard,  but  of  whom  you 
have  no  experience.  We  worship  One  whom  we 
know,  with  whom  we  have  intimate  relations  ;  for 
the  true  knowledge  of  God,  which  is  life  and 
salvation  to  the  soul,  is  the  birthright  of  every 
Jew.  A  time  is  coming  however,  in  fact  has 
already  come,  when  the  true  worshippers  of  what- 
ever race  will  worship  the  Divine  Father  of  all 
men,  and  worship  Him,  not  with  the  body  but 
with  the  spirit,  not  in  pretence  but  in  sincerity, 
for  indeed  the  Father  is  Himself  seeking  such 
worshippers.  God  is  Spirit,  and  those  who  worship 
Him  must  do  so  spiritually  and  sincerely."  Christ 
recognises  that  beneath  all  the  shallowness  of  the 
woman's  mind,  there  is  a  saving  strain  of  honesty 
in  her  nature.  It  was  this  which  caused  her  to 
dispense  with  the  fiction  of  the  marriage  ceremony, 
when  the  reality  of  the  marriage  bond  ceased  to 
have  any  meaning  for  her.  It  was  this,  too,  which 
prompted  the  words,  ^'  I  have  no  husband,"  and 


38    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     iii 

denied  the  name  to  the  man  who  had  no  claim  to 
the  title.  Christ  makes  His  appeal  therefore  to 
this  leaning  of  her  nature  in  the  direction  of 
sincerity  ;  this  distaste  for  mere  sham  and  pretence. 
She  has  worshipped  an  unknown  God,  while  her 
soul  has  all  along  cried  out  for  the  Divine  Father  ; 
she  has  joined  with  the  crowds  in  a  heartless  and 
unmeaning  ritual,  while  her  spirit  has  craved  com- 
munion with  the  Father  of  spirits.  The  Father 
has  all  the  time  been  seeking  for  the  true  worshipper 
within  her,  and  the  time  is  coming,  may  in  fact 
have  already  come,  when  she  will  have  done  with 
an  unreal  ceremonial,  and  substituted  the  sincere 
devotion  of  the  soul  ;  when  in  place  of  the 
unknown  God  whom  she  has  ignorantly  worshipped, 
she  will  find  the  Father,  and  her  whole  nature  will 
respond  in  a  passion  of  love  and  self-abandonment. 
Christ  has  at  last  found  a  responsive  chord  in 
the  woman's  nature.  Her  life  has  been  a  failure 
because  the  right  saving  influence  has  never  been 
forthcoming.  The  true  husband  would  have  made 
her  the  true  wife.  The  great  love  which  her 
heart  needed  had  never  come  ;  the  one  who  would 
have  satisfied  her  better  nature  had  never  arrived. 
An  unsatisfied  love  had  but  debased  her,  a  love 
that  satisfied  would  have  elevated  her.  If  she  had 
only  met  the  right  man,  what  a  wife  she  would 
have  made  !  If  the  consuming  passion  of  a  noble 
love  had  but  been  kindled  in  her  breast,  how  it 
would  have  purified  her  nature  !     If  the  man  had 


in     SATIATED  BUT  NOT  SATISFIED    39 

come  up  to  the  ideal  her  mind  had  pictured,  he 
would  have  satisfied  the  love  of  which  her  heart 
was  capable.  It  was  just  the  same  with  her 
spiritual  nature.  She  knew  the  Messiah  was 
coming,  and  that  when  He  did  come.  He  would 
be  able  to  tell  her  all  she  needed  to  know.  But, 
alas  !  He  had  not  come,  and  she  was  thirsty  still. 
Her  mind  was  in  doubt  and  perplexity  as  she 
listened  to  the  wrangling  of  Jew  with  Samaritan 
over  the  relative  merits  of  Zion  and  Gerizim,  and 
her  heart  longed  for  One  who  would  tell  her  what 
she  really  wanted  to  know,  in  order  that  the 
religious  instincts  of  her  nature  might  find  their 
true  object  of  worship.  Though  the  Jew  despised 
the  Samaritan,  and  the  Samaritan  hated  the  Jew, 
yet  she  knew  that  both  alike  awaited  the  coming 
of  Him  who  could  alone  satisfy  their  common 
need.  She  worshipped  an  unknown  God,  the 
shadow  of  a  divinity  connected  with  the  shadowy 
figures  of  long-dead  ancestors,  who  were  but 
names  to  her.  She  longed  for  the  Messiah  of  the 
Living  God,  who  should  give  reality  to  the  religion 
she  still  cherished  in  her  heart,  but  which  had  long 
ceased  to  operate  in  her  life.  When  He  came, 
for  whom  her  soul  waited.  He  would  tell  her  every- 
thing, and  His  presence  would  give  completeness 
to  her  life. 

Christ  had  failed  to  penetrate  beneath  the 
surface  of  this  woman's  moral  nature,  but  He  had 
stirred  the   depths  of  her   religious   nature.     She 


40    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     iii 

had  utterly  failed  to  see  the  imperfection  of  her 
moral  life,  but  she  was  deeply  conscious  of  the 
incompleteness  of  her  religious  life.  She  had 
long  since  given  up  all  hope  of  finding  the  man 
of  her  ideal  who  would  satisfy  the  yearning  of 
her  heart,  but  she  still  cherished  the  hope  of  the 
coming  of  the  Messiah  who  would  fulfil  the  desire 
of  her  soul.  The  death  of  the  one  hope  had 
probably  given  new  life  to  the  other.  The  coming 
of  the  Messiah  had  become  a  conviction  of  which 
she  was  assured.  She  did  more  than  hope,  she 
felt  that  He  would  come.  Christ  was  deeply 
moved  by  this  declaration  of  religious  faith  in  one 
who  was  a  moral  sceptic.  Amidst  the  wreck  of 
her  moral  ideals,  she  had  retained  her  faith  in  the 
spiritual.  She  had  lost  faith  in  man,  but  she  still 
retained  her  faith  in  God.  She  who  had  been  so 
often  deceived  by  men,  and  disappointed  in  her 
social  relations,  still  clung  to  her  faith  in  God,  and 
expected  the  coming  of  the  Messiah  of  promise. 
Her  faith  called  forth  His  confidence.  Her 
confident  expectation  evoked  his  plain  declaration. 
He  could  not  keep  such  a  soul  in  suspense.  His 
coming  meant  salvation  to  her.  Hers  was  a 
nature  which  judged  by  instinct,  recognised  by  the 
attraction  it  felt,  estimated  by  the  impulse  it 
received.  Moral  maxims  were  impotent,  personal 
influence  was  all-powerful  over  her  nature. 
Morality  had  no  attraction  for  her,  the  Messiah 
enraptured  her  soul.     If  she  was  to  be  saved  at  all 


Ill     SATIATED  BUT  NOT  SATISFIED    41 

it  could  only  be  by  the  influence  of  a  personality, 
not  by  the  injunctions  of  the  moral  code.  She 
was  of  those  who  never  betray  a  confidence  nor 
prove  traitors  to  a  trust.  Her  nature  would 
respond  to  a  generous  confidence,  her  heart  would 
be  loyal  to  a  sacred  trust.  He  could  say  to  her, 
and  be  confident  that  she  would  believe  Him,  *'  I 
am  He,  even  I  who  am  talking  to  you." 

Never  did  the  disciples  arrive  at  a  more 
inopportune  time,  never  was  an  interruption  more 
exasperating.  The  interview  is  cut  short  just 
when  it  is  becoming  of  absorbing  interest.  The 
woman  departs  and  leaves  us  nothing  but  an 
empty  water-pot.  What  was  the  impression  which 
this  confidence  of  Christ  produced  ?  What  was 
the  answer  she  was  going  to  utter,  when  the 
sight  of  the  returning  disciples  closed  her  lips  ? 
Whatever  it  was,  she  evidently  felt  she  could  not 
give  expression  to  it  before  the  disciples.  It  was 
too  personal  to  be  made  public  ;  it  was  too  sacred 
for  strangers  to  hear.  We  may,  however,  draw  an 
inference,  though  we  are  precluded  from  making 
an  assertion.  Her  words  to  her  neighbours  are 
full  of  significance  :  "  Come  and  see  a  man  who 
has  told  me  everything  I  have  ever  done.  Is  not 
this  perchance  the  Messiah  ?  "  There  is  the  echo 
of  the  words  of  her  religious  anticipation — "  When 
the  Messiah  comes,  He  will  tell  us  everything." 
Has  expectation  passed  into  realisation,  as  she 
recalls  the  astonishment  with  which  she  heard  Him 


42    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     iii 

refer  to  her  past  ?  Is  she  seeking  from  others  a 
confirmation  of  the  faith  which  has  already  found 
a  home  in  her  breast  ?  Is  the  eagerness  with 
which  she  brings  her  neighbours  to  His  presence, 
an  indication  of  her  consciousness  of  the  blessing 
she  has  herself  received  ?  It  would  seem  so,  and 
Christ's  words  to  the  disciples  confirm  the  im- 
pression. He  feels  that  He  has  been  watching 
the  ripening  of  a  soul,  and  the  fields  whitening 
for  the  harvest  are  the  metaphor  which  He 
employs.  Fields  ripe  for  the  sickle  meet  the 
eyes  of  the  disciples  ;  the  Master's  gaze  is  fixed 
upon  the  woman  returning  with  her  neighbours. 
Two  more  days  and  the  harvest  is  gathered  in, 
the  first-fruits  of  a  woman's  faith  in  the  Messiah 
for  whom  she  has  waited  so  long. 


IV 

THE    ECLIPSE    OF    FAITH 
Matt.  xi.  2-15  ;  Luke  vii.  18-28. 

Human  life  is  full  of  contrasts.  Light  and 
shadow,  joy  and  sorrow,  exhilaration  and  depres- 
sion, success  and  failure,  alternate  in  every  life, 
and  leave  their  indelible  marks  on  every  character. 
Sensitiveness  is  a  swinging  pendulum,  which  the 
farther  it  goes  in  one  direction,  the  farther  it  is 
compelled  to  go  in  the  opposite  direction.  What 
the  equable  temperament  gains  on  the  one  hand,  it 
of  necessity  loses  on  the  other.  The  sorrow  of 
the  less  sensitive  nature  may  be  slight,  but  its 
joy  is  proportionately  diminished.  A  perfect 
equilibrium  would  be  a  complete  insensibility. 
The  relation  between  perception  and  feeling  is 
similarly  proportioned.  The  keener  the  perception 
the  more  intense  is  the  emotion.  Humanity  pays 
for  its  superiority  over  the  animal,  but  it  receives 
a  just  equivalent.  The  law  of  compensation  is  a 
kind  of  psychical  law  of  gravity.  Like  children, 
playing  on  the  sea-shore,  however,  we  rejoice  when 
the   tide    is   in,    but    complain    when    it    is    out. 

43 


44    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     iv 

Gravitation  is  a  grand  thing  when  it  lifts  our 
weights  ;  it  is  anything  but  a  grand  thing  when  it 
presents  its  bill  for  the  assistance  it  has  given. 

We  should  have  little  to  complain  of,  however, 
if  it  were  not  that  the  human  factor  so  often 
interferes  with  the  working  of  the  natural  law. 
The  payment  which  nature  demands  is  but  the 
discharge  of  a  debt  which  we  have  already  incurred, 
or  the  prepayment  for  a  blessing  which  will  un- 
doubtedly come.  We  have  either  already  received 
or  may  confidently  expect  to  receive  an  exact 
equivalent.  The  inequality  comes  when  the  human 
element  interposes  and  compels  us  to  pay  for  debts 
which  others  have  contracted.  The  stone  which 
another  hand  has  thrown  in  wantonness,  the  law 
of  gravity  returns  upon  our  heads.  The  energy 
we  have  expended  in  raising  the  weight,  another 
makes  use  of  for  his  own  advantage.  The  possible 
which  we  have  perceived,  another's  action  converts 
into  an  impossible.  Nature  does  not  distinguish 
between  individual  and  individual,;  she  deals  with 
humanity  as  a  whole,  and  pays  her  debts  to  any  one 
of  the  partners.  To  her  they  are  all  members  of 
the  same  firm,  and  she  presents  her  accounts  to  all 
indiscriminately,  and  cashes  every  cheque  to  bearer, 
never  to  order. 

In  our  early  days  we  are  all  more  or  less  seers, 
and  our  souls  are  entranced  as  with  the  vision  of  an 
ideal  kingdom  of  heaven,  which  we  announce  with 
joy  and  proclaim  with  all  the  assurance  of  faith. 


IV  THE  ECLIPSE  OF  FAITH  45 

The  experience  of  life,  however,  brings  us  face  to 
face  with  the  actual,  our  vision  becomes  dim,  or  we 
find  "the  powers  that  be"  too  strong  for  us,  and 
from  the  prison-house  into  which  our  souls  have 
been  thrown  captive,  we  send  forth  our  messengers 
of  perplexity  to  ask  questions  which  have  proved 
too  much  for  us.     There  are  two  kinds  of  depres- 
sion resulting  from   two  very   different  kinds  of 
captivity.       There    is    the    depression    ending   in 
despair,  which  comes  to  us  when,  like  Samson,  we 
are  grinding  in  the  prison-house  into  which  our 
own  folly  has  cast  us,  and  we  are  paying  the  price 
of  our  own  waywardness.     But  there  is  also  the 
depression,  which  is  but  a  temporary  clouding  of 
the  soul,  which  comes  to  us  as  it  came  to  John  the 
Baptist,  cast  into   the  dungeon  of  a  Herod,  and 
excluded  from  the  free  and  open  life  to  which  he 
had    been    accustomed.       In    both    cases   we    are 
suffering  from  the  swing  of  the  pendulum,  and  our 
present    depression    is    in    inverse    proportion    to 
our  former  elation.     We    have    encountered    the 
problem  of  suffering  in  both  cases  ;  but  in  one  case 
it  is  the  suffering  due  to  our  own  sin,  while  in  the 
other  it  is  the  suffering  due  to  the  sin  of  others. 
There  is  depression  in  both  cases,  but  it  is  only  in 
the  latter  that   mental    perplexity   adds    its   more 
poignant   sting    to    the    iron    which    has    entered 
the  soul. 

The  captivity  of  John  the  Baptist  could  not  fail 
to  work  its  full  measure  of  depression  upon  his 


46    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     iv 

nature.  Accustomed  to  the  free  air  of  heaven,  the 
foetid  atmosphere  of  the  dungeon  asphyxiated  his 
soul.  Used  to  the  blue  sky,  the  wide  expanse  of 
the  desert,  the  light  of  the  sun  by  day,  and  the 
moon  and  stars  by  night,  the  cramped  and  dingy 
quarters  in  which  he  was  confined  could  not  fail  to 
work  their  full  measure  of  ill  both  to  body  and 
mind.  The  vision  of  the  ideal  kingdom  of  heaven 
which  his  soul  had  perceived,  his  fancy  had  been 
accustomed  to  give  form  and  colour  to,  out  of  the 
fleecy  clouds  and  many-tinted  rainbow  of  his  out- 
of-door  environment.  It  was  inevitable  that,  shut 
up  in  the  darkness  of  Herod's  dungeon,  the  vision 
should  grow  dim,  and  his  physical  discomfort  react 
upon  his  serenity  of  soul.  Vague  and  uncertain 
rumours  reached  him,  probably  distorted  by  the 
prejudices  of  some  of  his  own  disciples,  as  to  the 
doings  of  Him  whom  he  had  hailed  as  the  Lord's 
Anointed.  In  place  of  the  righteousness  and  peace 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  whose  near  approach  he 
had  so  confidently  announced,  he  found  himself 
the  victim  of  the  actual  kingdom  of  Herod,  and 
suffering  for  the  boldness  with  which  he  had 
denounced  the  King's  adultery.  Had  he  been 
precipitate  in  his  announcement  of  the  nearness  of 
the  heavenly  kingdom  ?  had  he  mistaken  a  fellow- 
herald  for  the  One  who  must  come  if  Israel  were 
to  be  redeemed  ?  Great  things  were  happening  in 
the  outside  world,  the  time  was  big  with  coming 
events,  yet  there  was  no  one  to  interpret  the  signs  of 


IV  THE  ECLIPSE  OF  FAITH  47 

the  time,  and  he  himself,  the  only  seer  in  Israel, 
was  a  captive.  If  he  could  but  get  speech  with 
that  other  kindred  soul,  whether  he  were  herald  of 
the  One  who  must  come,  or  the  veritable  coming 
One  Himself,  his  perplexity  would  vanish,  his 
peace  of  mind  would  return.  A  personal  interview 
was  impossible,  but  an  interview  by  deputy  was 
still  open  to  him.  Calling  two  of  his  disciples 
upon  whom  he  could  depend  to  faithfully  carry  his 
own  message,  without  adding  any  comments  of 
their  own,  and  who  would  as  faithfully  bring  back 
the  answer  upon  which  so  much  depended,  he  sent 
them  with  the  message  of  a  perplexed  but  not 
despairing  mind,  a  question  of  faith  and  hope,  not 
of  doubt  or  despair.  The  question  reveals  the 
man,  and  adds  to  our  admiration  of  his  character. 
It  was  evidently  so  interpreted  by  Christ,  and  called 
forth  His  panegyric  on  the  greatest  of  Israel's 
seers.  While  the  question  shows  the  perplexity 
into  which  circumstances  had  thrown  him,  it  yet 
reveals  that  faith  in  the  ideal  which  no  adversity 
could  touch.  It  betrays  the  diffidence  of  a  humble 
mind,  coupled  with  the  confidence  of  an  assured 
faith.  He  feels  that  he  may  perhaps  have  been 
mistaken  as  to  details,  but  he  has  no  doubt  as  to 
the  fact.  He  may  have  been  mistaken  as  to  the 
nearness  of  the  approach,  but  he  has  no  fear  that 
he  is  mistaken  as  to  the  reality  of  the  coming.  The 
vision  which  he  has  seen  is  yet  for  the  appointed 
time,  and  though  it  tarry  it  will  not  delay.     That 


48    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     iv 

it  will  surely  come  he  has  no  doubt,  and  if  he  has 
mistaken  the  proximity  of  its  fulfilment,  he  will 
confidently  wait  for  it.  He  may  have  miscalculated 
distances,  but  his  vision  has  not  betrayed  him. 
He  whom  he  took  to  be  the  King  may  be  only  the 
herald,  but  the  King  will  surely  come. 

John  had  apparently  well  chosen  his  messengers, 
and  his  reliance  was  well  placed.  They  add  no 
comments  of  their  own,  however  much  they  may 
have  been  tempted.  They  make  no  attempt  to 
explain  the  message,  but  content  themselves  with 
asking  the  question  with  which  they  were  charged. 
It  would  seem  from  the  account  in  Luke  as  though, 
conscious  of  the  importance  of  their  mission,  they 
interrupted  the  work  of  healing  in  which  Jesus  was 
engaged,  and  with  an  abruptness  indicative  of  the 
sense  of  the  urgency  of  the  case,  asked  the 
question  with  which  they  had  been  charged.  With 
the  briefest  introduction,  "  John  the  Baptist  has 
sent  us  to  you  with  this  question,"  they  repeat  the 
exact  words  of  their  master — "  Are  you  the  One 
who  must  come,  or  are  we  to  look  for  Another  ?  " 

That  insight  into  the  heart  of  a  question,  which 
is  so  characteristic  of  Christ,  is  evident  in  the  reply 
He  makes.  There  is  no  delay  in  answering  the 
importunate  question.  His  continuance  of  the 
work  of  healing  is  a  part,  and  an  essential  part, 
of  the  answer.  The  question  seems  to  be  so 
simple  as  to  merely  necessitate  a  plain  yes  or  no. 
Questions,  however,  must  always  be  interpreted  in 


IV  THE  ECLIPSE  OF  FAITH  49 

the  light  of  the  questioner's  state  of  mind,  not 
merely  in  the  light  of  his  logical  expression.  An 
answer  must  always  be  adapted  to  the  capacity  of 
the  questioner  to  understand.  The  truest  and 
best  answer  consists  in  enabling  the  man  to  answer 
his  own  question.  The  categorical  answer  may  be 
a  perfect  solution  of  the  problem,  but  it  may  fail 
entirely  to  enable  the  mind  which  has  perceived 
the  problem  to  appreciate  the  solution.  The 
deepest  problems  of  life  no  one  can  solve  for  us, 
we  must  solve  them  ourselves.  The  mind  which 
has  entered  the  maze  of  perplexity  and  doubt 
must  thread  its  own  way  through  all  the  intricacies 
of  the  path,  before  it  can  arrive  at  the  longed-for 
goal.  This  is  where  the  test  of  the  true  teacher 
comes  in.  For  a  hundred  men  who  can  solve  a 
problem,  there  is  only  one  who  can  relieve  the 
mind  of  the  perplexity  which  the  problem  has 
produced.  The  true  teacher  must  not  only  under- 
stand his  subject,  he  must  equally  understand  the 
mind  of  his  pupil.  Teaching  is  causing  a  man  to 
learn,  and  he  who  cannot  sit  on  the  pupil's  bench 
has  no  qualification  to  occupy  the  teacher's  chair. 

John  had  recognised  in  the  character  of  Christ 
the  Messiah  of  Jewish  expectation.  He  had  pro- 
claimed Him  as  the  Lamb  of  God  who  takes  away 
the  sin  of  the  world.  Of  the  spiritual  nature  of 
the  kingdom  of  God  he  was  fully  assured,  and  his 
ministry  had  been  a  vigorous  call  to  repentance. 
His  perplexity  arose  out  of  the  rumours  which 

£ 


50    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     iv 

were  brought  to  him  of  the  work  of  Jesus  and  the 
delay  in  the  visible  manifestation  of  the  kingdom 
of  his  prophetic  vision.  Could  this  healer  and 
teacher,  great  though  He  might  be,  be  the 
Messianic  King  for  whom  Israel  waited  ?  Had 
he  been  over-hasty  in  judging  of  the  office  which 
Jesus  was  destined  to  fill  from  the  character  He 
bore  ?  This  was  the  difficulty  in  which  John 
found  himself,  and  Christ  enters  into  it  with  the 
fullest  sympathy  and  the  keenest  insight.  He 
conducts  the  mind  of  John  back  to  the  old  path 
of  spiritual  insight  ;  He  leads  the  captive  seer  to 
the  Mount  from  which  he  had  caught  his  first 
vision  of  the  coming  King.  John  had  made  no 
mistake  in  method,  his  vision  had  played  him  no 
tricks,  but  the  walls  of  the  prison  had  shut  out  the 
visible  evidence,  and  only  left  him  the  memory  of 
a  past  experience.  The  King  must  be  judged  and 
recognised  by  His  character  ;  the  Messiah  must  do 
the  Messiah's  work.  The  title  might  be  assumed 
by  any  one,  the  work  could  be  done  by  One  alone. 
The  eyes  of  the  captive's  disciples  must  see  what 
the  captive  himself  could  not  behold  ;  the  disciples' 
lips  must  convey  what  the  prisoner  could  not  dis- 
cover. Christ  therefore  turns  to  the  work  in 
which  He  had  been  interrupted,  and  continues  His 
ministry  of  healing  and  help,  that  the  messengers 
might  see  what  their  master  needed  to  see  but 
was  prevented  from  seeing. 

While  there  is  the  keenest  insight  into  John's 


IV  THE  ECLIPSE  OF  FAITH  51 

perplexity,  there  is  the  fullest  appreciation  of  his 
power  of  discernment.  Christ  correctly  estimates 
the  pupil's  difficulty,  but  He  does  not  make  the 
mistake  of  underestimating  his  capacity.  John 
was  familiar  with  the  Messianic  prophecies,  and 
Isaiah  was  doubtless  his  favourite  prophet.  The 
description  of  the  Messiah's  work  contained  in 
the  sixty-first  chapter  was  probably  his  constant 
meditation.  The  prophecy  with  which  John  was 
familiar,  Christ  fulfils  in  the  presence  of  the 
messengers,  knowing  that  John's  mind  will  enable 
him  to  work  his  own  way  to  peace  and  rest. 
Then  turning  to  the  waiting  messengers  He  bids 
them  go  and  tell  John  what  they  had  themselves 
seen  and  heard,  describing  almost  in  the  words  of 
Isaiah  the  work  in  which  they  found  him  engaged. 
If  the  answer  reveals  Christ's  appreciation  both 
of  John's  perplexity  and  also  of  his  power  of  dis- 
cernment, it  no  less  exhibits  the  sympathy  of 
Christ  for  the  captive  prophet.  One  of  the 
keenest  trials  of  John's  imprisonment  must  have 
been  the  cessation  of  his  life's  work  of  preaching 
the  good  news  to  the  poor.  The  coarse  prison 
fare  was  nothing  to  the  ascetic  prophet,  the  loneli- 
ness of  his  confinement  was  a  trifling  matter  to  the 
dweller  in  the  desert,  but  the  cessation  of  his  work, 
to  one  so  keenly  alive  to  its  importance,  must 
have  been  the  bitterest  portion  of  his  cup.  Christ 
felt  for  the  preacher  forced  into  a  premature  retire- 
ment, and  with  a  touch  of  the  tenderest  sympathy 


52    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     iv 

bids  the  disciples  tell  their  master  that  though  he 
is  laid  aside,  the  work  still  goes  on,  and  the  poor 
have  the  gospel  proclaimed  to  them. 

His  final  words  ere  they  return  to  their  captive 
leader  are  words  of  benediction  and  hope.  He 
recognises  how  easy  it  is  for  the  seer,  whose  en- 
forced captivity  has  so  cruelly  deprived  him  of 
sight,  to  stumble  and  fall.  Unable  to  see  for 
himself,  dependent  upon  rumour  often  distorted 
by  prejudice,  surrounded  by  the  depressing  in- 
fluence of  a  prison,  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  keep 
the  lamp  of  faith  burning,  to  avoid  the  pitfalls 
and  obstacles  to  which  the  fervent  religious  nature 
is  exposed.  At  the  same  time,  Christ  feels  con- 
fident that  John's  faith  will  not  fail  him,  that 
though  sight,  as  it  were,  has  been  lost,  he  will  yet 
be  able  to  enter  into  the  blessedness  of  those  who 
walk  by  faith  and  not  by  sight.  ''  Tell  him,"  He 
seems  to  call  to  the  departing  disciples,  "  that  blessed 
is  he,  captive  though  he  be,  who  finds  no  occasion 
for  stumbling  in  Me  or  My  work." 

Religious  faith  is  peculiarly  liable  to  those 
temporary  eclipses  which  passing  events  produce 
upon  the  keenly  sensitive  nature.  Again  and  again 
the  question  of  a  perplexed  faith  comes  forth  from 
the  prison-house  of  the  soul,  inquiring  whether  the 
vision  which  we  have  perceived  in  our  hours  of 
insight  has  not,  to  some  extent  at  least,  been  mis- 
understood. In  these  day  of  critical  inquiry  and 
minute  investigation   into    the  records  that    have 


IV  THE  ECLIPSE  OF  FAITH  53 

come    down  to  us  of  the  life  of  the  Prophet  of 
Nazareth,  rumours  often  distorted  and  one-sided 
are  brought  as  to  the  nature  of  His  person  and  His 
work.     Precluded  from  a  personal   investigation, 
depressed    by  the  gloomy  environment   in  which 
circumstances   have    placed    them,    those   who   in 
their  earlier  days  recognised  in  Him  the  Saviour 
of  the    race,    and   heralded    the    coming    of    the 
kingdom,   wonder   whether    they    have    not   mis- 
interpreted   and    misunderstood,   and    repeat   the 
question  of  John  :    Was   Jesus    of  Nazareth  the 
One  who  must  come  if  the  world  is  to  be  saved 
at   all,  or  must  we  still  look  for  Another?     To 
such  natures  the  answer  of  Christ  is  the  only  one 
that    carries   conviction.     The  character  of  Jesus 
which  first  captivated  their  souls  is  the  evidence 
of  His    fitness  for  the  position  they  assigned  to 
Him,  and  the  work  that  He  is  still  doing  is  the 
guarantee    that    He    and    He    alone    is    the    One 
for  whom  humanity  has  waited.     Whatever   the 
explanation   of  His  appearance  may   be,  whether 
an    Evolution  or  an  Incarnation,  He  still  stands 
unrivalled  in  the  history  of  the  race.     If  He  be 
an  evolution,  then    human  nature  has  apparently 
exhausted  itself  in  His  production,  for  there  has 
been  no  second.     It  is  the  same  with  His  work. 
If  sin  is  to  be  overcome,  and  man  is  to  be  saved  at 
all,  there  is  no  evidence  that  apart  from  Him  and 
His  influence,  redemption  is  possible.     Whatever 
reproach    may    be    brought,  and  justly   brought, 


54    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     iv 

against  the  deeds  that  have  been  done  in  His 
name,  there  can  be  no  question  that  the  purest 
and  noblest  lives  which  the  world  has  seen  have 
been  the  result  of  His  influence.  The  regenerating 
influences  in  the  world  to-day  are  all  traceable  to 
the  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  We  look  in  vain 
for  a  rival  to  the  character  of  Christ,  and  we  look 
equally  in  vain  for  a  substitute  for  the  salvation 
which  comes  through  Christ. 


RELIGIOUS    CONSERVATIVES 

Matt.  ix.  14-17  ;  Mark  ii.  18-22  ;  Luke  v.  33-39. 

Our  true  attitude  to  the  past  is  one  of  reverence, 
to  the  present  one  of  respect,  and  to  the  future 
one  of  sympathy.  We  are  heirs  of  the  past, 
stewards  of  the  present,  and  trustees  of  the  future. 
The  great  law  of  evolution  has  emphasised  our 
indebtedness  to  the  past  by  showing  us  how  the 
permanent  and  valuable  acquisitions  of  the  race 
are  transmitted  to  the  heirs  of  the  ages  ;  it  has 
emphasised  our  relations  to  the  present  by  pointing 
out  the  importance  of  environment ;  and  it  has 
emphasised  our  relation  to  the  future  by  showing 
how  the  whole  process  of  Nature  is  a  striving  for 
a  richer  and  more  abundant  life,  and  that  where 
one  generation  fails  to  attain,  it  prepares  the  way 
for  the  generation  that  is  to  follow.  If  we  despise 
our  inheritance,  therefore,  we  are  not  likely  to  make 
use  of  the  opportunity  it  affords  us  of  enjoying 
our  possession,  nor  are  we  likely  to  anticipate  the 
still  greater  enjoyment  which  is  in  store  for  our 

55 


56    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST      v 

descendants.  If  we  are  unmindful  of  the  ac- 
quisitions of  our  ancestors,  we  are  not  likely  to 
increase  the  estate  that  has  come  into  our  possession, 
nor  look  forward  to  its  still  greater  increase  by 
those  who  are  to  follow  us.  In  the  same  way,  if 
we  are  so  attached  to  the  past  as  to  be  careless  or 
indifferent  to  the  altered  conditions  of  the  present, 
and  the  tendencies  which  indicate  a  still  more 
altered  future,  we  are  untrue  to  the  trust  which 
has  been  committed  to  our  care.  The  past  is  a 
great  inheritance,  the  present  a  splendid  opportunity, 
and  the  future  a  noble  incentive.  Failure  to 
respond  to  any  one  of  the  influences  means  delay 
and  hindrance  in  the  direction  of  true  progress. 
We  may  be  so  enamoured  of  the  past  as  to  be 
indifferent  to  the  claims  of  the  present  or  the 
promises  of  the  future.  We  may  be  so  engrossed 
in  the  present  as  to  be  oblivious  of  the  past  and 
careless  of  the  future.  The  influence  of  the  past 
may  be  so  strong  as  to  lead  us  to  try  and  reverse 
the  engine  ;  that  of  the  present  may  tempt  us  to  a 
headlong  rush  down  a  steep  decline  ;  that  of  the 
future  may  be  so  inviting  as  to  induce  us  to  leave 
the  highway  and  try  some  of  the  many  inviting 
short  cuts  which  seem  to  lead  to  the  desired  goal. 
He  is  the  great  man  who  can  feel  all  the  influences, 
and  give  the  right  response  to  each. 

In  the  sphere  of  religion  the  influence  of  the 
past  is  much  more  powerful  than  in  any  other.  Its 
subject-matter  is  so  sacred  that  reverence  becomes 


V  RELIGIOUS  CONSERVATIVES        57 

worship,  customs  become  mysterious  rites  which  it 
is  sacrilege  to  alter  and  impious  to  question,  while 
opinions  become  fixed  beliefs  which  have  long  since 
ceased  to  inspire,  but  are  all-powerful  instruments 
with  which  to  torture  and  rack  the  mind.     The 
living  heroes  and  great  men  of  the  past  are  either 
deified  or  canonised,  and  the  innate  reverence  of 
humanity  for  the  past  is  degraded  into  the  worship 
of  innumerable  deities,  or  the  prostration  of  the 
soul  before  a  host  of  images  of  the  saints.     It  is 
not  long  before   the  worship  is  extended  to  the 
place  in  which  they  live  and  the  clothes  they  wore. 
The  holy  shrine  which  marks  the  resting-place  of 
some  dead  hero  is  thronged  with  pilgrims,  while 
the  forum  and  the  temple,  in  which  may  be  heard 
the  living  voice  of  the   hero  of  the  present,  are 
deserted.     While  we  refuse  to  worship  the  past, 
however,    we    must    not    be    unmindful    of    the 
reverence   which    it  rightly   claims.     Worship   of 
the  past  may  be  a  sign  of  debility,  but  irreverence 
is  a  mark  of  debasement.     The  abolition  of  the  old 
may  be  imperatively  demanded,  but  the  abuse  of  the 
old  is  an  insult  to  the  dead.     A  response  to  the 
new  may  be  the  result  of  a  holy  impulse,  but  a 
sympathy  with  the  old  is  a  sacred  duty. 

The  disciples  of  John  the  Baptist  had  come 
under  the  influence  of  a  movement  which  was 
preparatory  to  a  greater,  had  followed  a  leader 
who  announced  a  mightier  than  himself.  They 
had  responded  to  the  influence  of  the  present,  but 


58    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST      v 

before  they  had  well  adapted  themselves  to  the 
altered  conditions,  the  new  had  become  old,  the 
authority  had  become  obsolete,  their  leader  was  in 
captivity.  They  were  followers  of  a  thinker 
rather  than  thinkers  themselves,  partisans  of  a 
leader  rather  than  participators  in  a  movement. 
They  had  been  carried  by  the  flood-tide  of  the 
Baptist's  ministry  far  away  from  their  old 
moorings,  and  its  ebb  had  left  them  high  and  dry. 
The  new  tide  had  not  yet  reached  them,  the  old 
tide  had  long  since  receded.  They  looked  back 
to  the  old  moorings  with  wistfulness,  they 
anticipated  the  coming  tide  with  fear.  There 
was  much  in  the  new  teaching  for  which  the 
Baptist  had  not  prepared  them  ;  there  was  much  in 
such  of  their  old  associations  as  he  had  left 
undisturbed  to  which  they  were  deeply  attached. 
He  was  in  captivity,  with  little  likelihood  of  being 
released.  His  movement  was  beheaded  long 
before  he  himself  was  decapitated.  His  followers 
therefore,  realising  that  the  movement  was  at  an 
end,  felt  themselves  drawn  towards  the  old,  yet 
attracted  to  the  new.  They  were  conscious  that 
they  had  more  in  common  with  the  old,  but  they 
could  not  altogether  resist  the  fascination  of  the  new. 
They  joined  with  the  Pharisees  on  the  question  of 
fasting,  but  they  insisted  on  an  interview  with  Christ. 
Old  associations  drew  them  in  the  one  direction  ;  the 
personal  influence  of  a  leader,  to  which  they  had 
responded  by  following  John,  drew  them  to  Jesus. 


V  RELIGIOUS  CONSERVATIVES        59 

Great  decisions  often  turn  on  slight  events,  and 
a  commonplace  occurrence  often  leads  to  an 
extraordinary  result.  The  celebration  of  a  common 
fast  caused  these  men  to  see  whither  events  were 
leading  them,  and  made  a  decision  long  postponed 
a  matter  of  urgency.  They  found  themselves 
more  in  accord  with  the  old  than  with  the  new  ; 
they  perceived  a  drifting  of  their  bark  in  the 
direction  of  the  shore  they  had  left,  rather  than  in 
the  direction  of  the  haven  they  had  set  out  to  find. 
Their  difficulty  in  the  matter  of  fasting  was 
indicative  of  much  more  than  the  mere  keeping  of 
an  old  custom.  It  was  symbolical  of  the  attitude 
of  their  mind  in  its  relation  to  the  past,  not  merely 
indicative  of  their  respect  for  an  old  habit.  The 
solution  they  sought  meant  more  than  the  mere 
resolution  of  a  doubt,  it  meant  the  direction  of 
their  future  life.  They  had,  in  fact,  outgrown  their 
old  environment  ;  the  new  thought  was  fermenting 
in  their  minds.  They  were  more  at  home  among 
the  disciples  of  the  Pharisees  than  with  the 
disciples  of  Jesus,  but  it  is  to  the  Master  of  the 
latter  rather  than  to  the  Rabbis  of  the  former  that 
they  feel  drawn  for  a  solution  of  their  difficulty. 
They  keep  the  fast  with  the  Pharisees,  but  they 
cast  longing  eyes  on  the  feast  with  the  disciples  of 
Jesus.  The  fast  satisfies  their  religious  scruples, 
but  it  is  the  feast  which  will  alone  satisfy  their 
spiritual  cravings.  The  reason  for  their  own 
observance  of  the    fast,  however,   is   as   much   a 


6o    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST      v^ 

mystery  to  them  as  the  reason  for  its  non- 
observance  by  the  followers  of  Jesus.  "  Why  do 
we  and  the  Pharisees  fast,  but  your  disciples 
fast  not  ? '' 

The  question  expresses  the  resentment  which 
the  mind  instinctively  feels  at  the  presence  of  the 
new.  It  is  always  the  new  which  has  to  justify  its 
appearance,  rather  than  the  old  which  has  to  justify 
its  continuance.  It  is  the  feast  which  the  new 
offers,  which  first  calls  attention  to  the  fast  which 
the  old  enjoins.  It  is  the  new  patch  which 
produces  dissatisfaction  with  the  old  garment  ;  it  is 
the  new  wine  which  reveals  the  inadequacy  of  the 
old  wine-skin.  The  old  custom  may  continue  long 
after  it  has  lost  all  meaning,  but  the  moment  it  is 
questioned  its  hour  of  departure  has  struck. 

Christ's  answer  is  a  justification  of  the  new 
rather  than  a  condemnation  of  the  old.  He  calls 
attention  to  the  altered  environment  which  has 
produced  the  new,  rather  than  points  out  the 
defects  in  the  old.  With  the  advent  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  which  John  announced,  the 
conception  of  religion  has  changed.  It  is  no 
longer  a  mortification  of  the  flesh,  it  is  a  life  of 
the  spirit.  The  mourning  and  lamentation  at  the 
supposed  death  of  the  maid  have  given  place  to 
the  tabret  and  harp  of  the  musicians  who  have 
come  to  take  part  in  her  marriage  festivities. 
The  religious  instinct  of  the  Jew  was  not  dead,  it 
only  slept.     The  daughter  of  Zion  had  heard  the 


V  RELIGIOUS  CONSERVATIVES        6i 

voice  of  the  Bridegroom  saying,  *'  Talitha  cumi," 
and  the  flush  of  new  life  had  suffused  her  pale 
cheeks.  The  house,  therefore,  is  no  longer  one  of 
mourning  but  of  rejoicing,  and  the  fast  must  give 
place  to  the  feast.  The  disciples  are  the  children 
of  the  house  to  which  the  Bridegroom  has  come, 
and  His  presence  makes  fasting  impossible.  With 
the  most  sensitive  regard  for  the  feelings  of  John's 
disciples,  and  with  a  keen  insight  into  their  sus- 
ceptibility to  the  influence  of  their  old  master, 
Christ  takes  up  the  illustration  which  John  had 
himself  used,  and  from  the  contrast  he  had  drawn 
between  himself  as  the  herald  and  Christ  as  the 
King,  justifies  the  contrast  between  the  fasting  on 
the  part  of  the  disciples  of  the  one,  and  the  feasting 
on  the  part  of  the  disciples  of  the  other.  He  also 
recognises,  however,  the  diff^erent  circumstances  in 
which  His  questioners  are  placed  through  the 
imprisonment  of  their  master,  and  anticipates  a 
similar  change  of  conditions  for  His  own  disciples. 
The  time  is  coming  when  His  own  disciples,  like 
those  of  John,  will  be  bereft  of  their  Master,  and 
the  time  of  feasting  will  have  to  give  place  to  the 
time  of  fasting.  Instead  of  discussing  abstract 
principles  He  takes  concrete  facts,  and  suggests  an 
explanation  to  account  for  the  disappearance  of 
the  old  and  the  birth  of  the  new.  He  goes  back 
to  the  common  ground  upon  which  both  the  new 
and  the  old  alike  rest.  It  is  not  ritual  which 
evokes  feeling,  it  is  feeling  which  gives  birth  to 


62    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST      v 

ritual.  The  outward  act  must  be  justified  by  its 
appropriateness  as  an  expression  of  the  inner  feeling. 
When  the  sentiment  has  ceased  to  be  active,  the 
ceremony  has  ceased  to  be  effective.  When  the 
outward  act  no  longer  represents  the  inner  feeling, 
it  has  lost  its  significance  and  its  performance  is 
meaningless.  Grief  and  sorrow  will  cause  fasting, 
but  mere  fasting  will  never  evoke  a  genuine 
sorrow.  It  is  the  spirit  which  must  dictate  the 
act,  not  the  act  which  must  control  the  spirit. 
A  fast  may  be  appropriate  for  a  funeral,  but 
it  is  the  feast  which  is  appropriate  for  the 
wedding. 

The  true  difficulty,  however,  of  John's  disciples 
was  not  merely  a  question  of  ritual,  it  was  a 
question  of  mental  attitude.  The  old  clothing 
to  which  they  had  grown  accustomed  showed 
signs  of  decay,  and  the  pieces  of  new  cloth 
with  which  they  were  trying  to  repair  it,  only 
made  the  rents  worse.  Their  agreement  with  the 
Pharisees  on  the  question  of  fasting,  only  revealed 
their  disagreement  on  more  serious  matters.  The 
sincerity  which  the  preaching  of  John  had  evoked, 
had  brought  into  greater  prominence  the  hypocrisy 
of  much  of  their  religious  life.  He  had  provided 
them  with  new  pieces  of  cloth,  new  words  and 
phrases,  but  not  with  new  clothing.  The  new 
wine  which  he  had  provided  was  cracking  the  old 
wine-skins  of  their  Pharisaic  training.  The  old 
conception  of  religion  as  ritual,  which  the  Pharisees 


V  RELIGIOUS  CONSERVATIVES        63 

had  taught  them,  would  not  agree  with  the  new 
conception  of  religion  as  righteousness  which  John 
had  taught  them.  They  had  left  their  old  moor- 
ings and  they  found  a  return  impossible.  Christ 
has  the  fullest  sympathy  for  these  disciples  in  the 
mental  struggle  through  which  they  are  passing, 
and  His  treatment  of  their  difficulty  is  marked 
with  the  delicacy  and  tact  of  a  refined  nature. 
There  is  none  of  the  ridicule  in  which  a  strong 
mind  often  indulges  ;  there  is  none  of  the  scornful 
contempt  which  a  coarse  nature  so  frequently 
expresses.  Their  afi^ection  for  the  old  is  a  feeling 
which  He  can  understand  ;  their  suspicion  of  the 
new  is  one  with  which  He  can  sympathise.  He 
lays  emphasis  on  the  fact  that  the  old  which  has  to 
be  relinquished  is  merely  the  external,  the  old 
garments  which  have  served  their  purpose,  which 
were  suited  to  the  past,  but  are  no  longer  a  fitting 
expression  for  the  thought  of  the  present.  The 
new  thought  which  reveals  the  inadequacy  of  the 
old  system  is  the  vintage  of  the  present,  but  reaped 
from  the  vineyards  of  the  past.  It  is  not  the  old 
truth,  but  the  old  expression  in  which  it  was  clothed, 
which  has  to  disappear.  It  is  not  the  truth  in  the 
old  system  which  is  cast  away,  it  is  the  old  system 
which  is  not  elastic  enough  to  contain  the  new 
truth.  A  true  loyalty  to  the  past  demands  new 
clothing  in  which  to  express  the  old  truth,  the 
preparation  of  new  wine-skins  in  which  to  pre- 
serve   the    vintage    of  the    present.     They  show 


64    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST      v 

the  truest  reverence  for  the  past  who  seek 
to  clothe  the  old  truth  in  the  new  and  living 
language  of  the  present.  They  are  the  true  con- 
servatives who  provide  new  wine-skins  for  the 
fresh  vintage. 

The  last  sentence,  which  Luke  alone  records,  is 
suggestive  of  the  intense  sympathy  Christ  felt  for 
the  natural  hesitation  of  John's  disciples  in  the 
personal  sacrifice  they  were  called  upon  to  make. 
The  reformer,  as  a  rule,  has  very  little  sympathy 
for  the  waverers  and  half-convinced.  Strong  in 
his  own  convictions,  he  can  often  understand  an 
opponent  better  than  the  moderate  man.  At- 
tracted by  the  new,  he  is  rather  repelled  by  the 
old.  Christ,  however,  recognises  that  if  personal 
inclination  and  individual  taste  were  alone  con- 
sulted, the  new  truth  would  invariably  be  lost. 
"  No  one,"  He  says,  "  who  has  drunk  old  wine, 
relishes  all  at  once  the  taste  of  the  new,  for  he 
feels  that  the  old  is  better."  There  is,  however,  a 
duty  which  the  present  demands,  as  well  as  an 
obligation  which  the  past  enjoins.  We  are 
stewards  for  the  future  as  well  as  heirs  of  the  past. 
The  vineyard  with  its  living  plants  and  its  vintage 
of  to-day,  as  well  as  the  cellar  with  its  wine  of  the 
past,  is  a  part  of  the  inheritance  which  has  come 
into  our  possession.  We  may  drink  the  old  wine, 
but  we  must  also  gather  the  fresh  grapes.  We 
may  empty  the  old  wine-skin,  but  we  must  replace 
it  with  the  new,  in  which  is  carefully  preserved  the 


V  RELIGIOUS  CONSERVATIVES        6s 

fresh  juice  of  the  vintage  of  to-day.  The  estate 
we  have  inherited  is  strictly  entailed,  and  we  enjoy 
it  as  trustees  for  those  who  come  after  us.  We 
must  replace  the  worn-out  furniture,  we  must  re- 
stock the  depleted  cellars,  if  we  are  to  fulfil  the 
trust  which  has  been  committed  to  us,  and  hand 
on  to  our  descendants  a  richer  inheritance. 


VI 

THE    MAN    WHOSE    SUFFERING    DEBASED     HIM 
John  V.  1-18. 

Individuality  is  a  feature  which  can  never  be 
left  out  of  consideration  in  dealing  with  any  of 
the  problems  of  life.  Whether  it  be  very. marked 
or  hardly  noticeable,  it  is  a  factor  which  enters 
into  every  calculation,  an  element  which  affects 
every  combination.  The  effects  produced  by  the 
influence  of  education,  environment,  heredity,  and 
creed,  are  all  liable  to  modification  by  means  of 
the  individuality  of  the  person  subjected  to  them. 
Our  calculations  as  to  the  influence  of  any  one  of 
these  factors  may  be  entirely  upset  by  this  subtle 
and  incalculable  personal  element.  The  order  and 
method  even  which  may  mark  the  individuality  of 
one  man  affords  no  safe  guide  by  which  to  estimate 
that  of  another  man,  for  each  has  a  certain  definite 
quality  which  distinguishes  him  from  his  fellows. 
An  environment  which  is  beneficial  to  one  man 
is  positively  harmful  to  another  ;  an  experience 
which  is  the   making   of  one   is  the   marring  of 

66 


VI  DEBASED  BY  SUFFERING  67 

another    character.       One    of   the    most   striking 
illustrations   of  this   essential   difference    between 
man  and  man  is  to  be  found  in  the  very  diverse 
results  which  are  obtained  from  the  ministry  of 
suffering.     The   same  sorrow  may  yield  either  a 
rich  harvest  of  blessing,  or  a  plentiful  aftermath  of 
curses,  according  to  the  individuality  of  the  person 
to  whom  it  comes.     It  leaves  its  mark  upon  every 
face,   but  one   it  may   transfigure  with   a  divine 
glory,  while  it  may  so  disfigure  another  as  to  make 
it  positively  revolting.     Similarly  it  may  refine  and 
purify  a  character,  so  that  we  instinctively  reverence 
it  as  something  godlike,  or  it  may  coarsen  and 
harden  it,  so   that  we   turn   away  with  loathing. 
Whatever  may  be  the  view  we  take  of  the  meaning 
and  purpose  of  suffering,  there  can  be  no  question 
that  its  effects  are  as  diverse  as  light  and  darkness. 
Suffering  is  undoubtedly  a  great  test  of  character, 
but    it    is    a    test   which    issues  in   either  of  two 
directions  which  are  the  antitheses  of  each  other. 
The  vase  that  is  put  into  the  furnace  for  completion 
may  come  out  either  perfect  or  spoiled,  and  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  foretell  which  result  will  be 
obtained.       The    man    who    passes    through    the 
furnace  of  suffering  may  come  out  with  a  character 
fixed  in  exquisite  beauty,  but  it  is  apparently  just 
as  possible  that  he  may  come  forth  distorted  and 
disfigured  for  life.     Human  nature  differs  as  clays 
differ,  and  individuals,  even  of  the  same  class,  are 
as  distinct  as  pottery  made  from  the  same  clay. 


68    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     vi 

The  furnace  tries  them  both,  and  the  issue  of  the 
trial  is  equally  uncertain. 

The  story  of  the  impotent  man  at  the  Pool  of 
Bethesda  affords  an  illustration  of  a  case  in  which 
suffering  had  debased  rather  than  elevated  the 
man  who  had  been  subjected  to  its  ministry.  From 
the  solemn  warning  which  Christ  addresses  to  him 
after  his  healing,  it  seems  pretty  certain  that  in  his 
case  suffering  was  the  direct  result  of  a  life  of  sin 
and  degradation.  In  his  early  days  he  had  probably 
sown  his  wild  oats  with  the  carelessness  and 
prodigality  which  is  characteristic  of  youth  and 
inexperience.  The  crop  quickly  ripened,  and  the 
harvesting  extended  over  thirty-eight  years  of  the 
man's  life.  His  early  sin  had  apparently  quickly 
found  him  out,  and  struck  him  down,  leaving  him 
a  helpless  paralytic  for  the  rest  of  his  days. 
Doubtless  the  calamity  which  had  befallen  him 
had  produced  an  impression  upon  his  mind  and 
conscience  in  the  earlier  days  of  his  trouble,  but  as 
far  as  can  be  judged  this  had  long  since  passed 
away,  and  the  continuance  of  the  paralysis  had 
deadened  his  moral  as  well  as  his  physical  nature. 
How  long  he  had  been  a  visitor  to  the  healing 
springs  of  Bethesda  we  are  not  told,  but  simply 
that  he  had  been  in  that  condition  for  a  very  long 
period.  There  was  evidently  something  about  the 
man  which  arrested  Christ's  attention,  and  singled 
him  out  from  the  crowds  of  other  sick  people  who 
were  lying  about.     Probably  the  man  had  grown 


VI  DEBASED  BY  SUFFERING  69 

so  accustomed  to  his  complaint  that  his  desire  for 
renewed  health  was  not  very  great,  and  it  is  not  at 
all  improbable  that  he  found  it  lucrative  to  appeal 
to  the  pity  of  the  crowds  who  congregated  there. 
The  paralysis  had  affected  the  inner  as  well  as  the 
outer  man,  it  had  sapped  his  moral  as  well  as  his 
physical  strength.  It  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  it 
was  the  unmistakable  look  on  the  man's  face 
denoting  this  moral  paralysis  which  attracted 
Christ's  attention,  and  aroused  His  compassion. 
Weakness  of  will  is  far  more  pitiable  than  weakness 
of  body,  and  it  is  far  more  difficult  to  cure.  The 
healing  spring  may  suffice  for  physical  debility,  but 
a  miracle  is  needed  for  the  psychical  infirmity. 
Christ  stops  before  this  wreck  of  what  was  once  a 
man,  and  His  question  is  directed  to  the  moral 
rather  than  to  the  physical  defect.  "  Do  you 
wish,"  He  asks,  *'  to  become  sound  both  in  body 
and  mind  ? "  On  the  surface  the  question  is 
superfluous,  for  the  man's  presence  at  the  Pool  of 
Healing  would  seem  to  be  a  sufficient  answer. 
Christ,  however,  looked  beneath  the  surface,  and 
there  was  that  about  the  man  which  pointed  to 
callousness  and  indifference.  He  needed  a  galvanic 
shock  to  rouse  him  from  the  torpor  which  thirty- 
eight  years  of  impotence,  and  the  customary  visit 
to  the  Pool  had  induced  in  his  nature.  The  man's 
reply  confirms  this  impression.  It  is  an  excuse  for 
his  condition,  not  a  reply  to  the  question.  He 
seems  to  feel  that  the  question  implies  a  doubt  as 


70    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     vi 

to  the  reality  of  his  desire  for  healing.  ''  Sir,"  he 
answers,  "  I  have  no  one  to  put  me  into  the  Pool 
when  the  water  is  active,  and  while  I  am  coming 
some  one  else  steps  down  before  me."  There  is 
the  whine  of  the  beggar  rather  than  the  reply  of 
the  sufferer  in  the  man's  answer.  It  is  like  the 
excuse  which  the  professional  tramp  makes  for  his 
poverty.  No  one  will  give  him  work,  and  when 
he  hears  of  a  place,  he  finds  another  man  has 
forestalled  him.  He  does  not  even  ask  for  the 
help  which  he  confesses  he  needs,  although  the 
interest  the  stranger  has  shown  in  him  would  have 
justified  the  request.  This  throws  considerable 
light  upon  his  long  waiting.  It  is  not  at  all  likely 
that  among  all  the  crowds  who  visited  the  place, 
no  one  could  be  found  ready  to  give  the  helping 
hand  he  needed.  It  seems  far  more  probable  that 
he  found  it  more  profitable  to  remain  in  the 
Porch  than  to  get  inside  the  Pool,  to  appeal  for 
alms  than  to  seek  for  help.  He  was  no  great 
sufferer  racked  with  pain,  but  merely  crippled. 
Like  so  many  Eastern  cripples,  he  doubtless  found 
begging  and  the  exposure  of  his  paralysed  limbs  a 
profitable  business,  and  his  visits  to  the  Pool  were 
to  solicit  charity  rather  than  to  seek  healing. 
Christ  appears  to  have  felt  this,  for  His  answer  is 
a  command,  "  Rise,  take  up  your  mat  and  walk." 
What  the  man  needed  was  a  reinvigoration  of  the 
will,  a  strengthening  of  his  moral  nature,  a  life  of 
activity,  instead  of  the  life  of  indolence  to  which 


VI  DEBASED  BY  SUFFERING  71 

he  had  grown  accustomed  during  those  thirty-eight 
years.  Suffering  had  bent  him  to  the  earth — he 
needed  to  stand  erect.  His  mat  had  been  spread 
for  him  to  lie  upon  and  beg — he  needed  to  roll  it 
up  and  carry  it  out  of  sight.  He  had  been  carried 
by  others  and  been  a  burden  to  all  who  knew  him — 
he  needed  to  walk  himself  and  learn  to  carry  his 
own  and  other  people's  burdens.  The  inner  man 
was  paralysed  as  well  as  the  outer  man.  Suffering 
had  not  elevated  him — it  had  debased  him.  There 
are  cases  where  the  physical  paralysis  has  quickened 
the  life  and  activity  of  the  soul,  so  that  the  bed- 
ridden cripple  who  has  needed  every  physical 
attention  has  been  the  spiritual  helper  and  inspirer 
of  all  who  knew  him.  With  this  man,  however,  it 
had  been  the  opposite.  Suffering  had  soured  him, 
and  filled  him  with  complaints  and  jealousies.  No 
one  would  help  him,  others  obtained  relief  before 
him.  He  preferred  pity  to  relief,  he  would  sooner 
lie  and  beg  than  walk  and  work.  Christ  seeks  to 
rouse  the  moral  life  within  him,  and  therefore  adds 
to  the  command  to  rise,  the  order  to  take  up  his 
mat  and  walk.  As  long  as  his  mat  was  there  he 
might  be  tempted  to  lie  down  again.  Unless  he 
walked  away,  he  might  be  tempted  to  wait  till  his 
friends  or  relatives  came  to  carry  him  home. 
This,  rather  than  any  desire  to  bring  about  a  con- 
troversy with  the  authorities  on  the  question  of 
Sabbath  observance,  is  the  reason  for  the  command. 
That  He  should  heaJ  a  man  on  the  Sabbath  is 


72    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     vi 

perfectly  natural,  but  that  He  should  give  such  a 
trifling  command  as  that  to  carry  a  mat  in  order 
to  provoke  a  controversy  is  entirely  artificial. 
Christ  never  avoided  a  controversy,  but  He  never 
provoked  one  unnecessarily. 

The  healing  accomplished,  both  Healer  and 
healed  depart  their  several  ways,  the  One  seeking 
to  avoid  notoriety,  and  the  other  too  much 
astonished  at  his  recovery  to  ask  even  the  name 
of  his  benefactor.  As  he  goes  along  the  streets 
to  his  home,  he  is  suddenly  accosted  by  some  of 
those  strict  Sabbatarians  with  whom  Jerusalem 
abounded,  and  who  were  shocked  at  seeing  a  man 
carrying  a  burden  on  the  Sabbath  day.  They 
expostulate  with  him  on  the  enormity  of  his 
offence,  and  are  astonished  to  find  from  his  reply 
that  a  remarkable  cure  has  been  effected.  The 
man's  nature  is  evident  in  his  reply  to  their 
reproof.  He  is  a  man  ready  with  excuses,  eager 
to  throw  his  responsibilities  upon  others.  He  has 
not  been  cured  hitherto  because  of  the  fault  of 
others  ;  he  is  carrying  a  burden  now  because  the 
One  who  healed  him  told  him  to  do  it.  There  is 
doubtless  no  actual  desire  to  bring  his  healer  into 
trouble  with  the  authorities,  but  there  is  equally 
no  desire  to  shield  his  benefactor  by  taking  re- 
sponsibility for  his  action.  The  man  is  accustomed 
to  finding  excuses,  and  he  has  no  difficulty  in  the 
present  case.  With  that  utter  disregard  of  the 
important  and  emphasis  of  the  trifling  which  is 


VI  DEBASED  BY  SUFFERING  73 

characteristic  of  the  mere  literalist,  the  Pharisees 
ignore  the  healing,  and  eagerly  fasten  on  the 
trifling  act  of  carrying  a  mat  on  the  Sabbath. 
"  Who  was  the  man  who  told  you  to  take  up 
your  mat  and  walk  ? "  They  are  not  interested 
in  the  man  who  can  say  to  the  paralysed  cripple, 
"  Rise  up  and  walk,"  but  they  will  seek  high  and 
low  for  the  man  who  dares  to  tell  another  to  carry 
a  burden  on  the  Sabbath  day.  They  can  get  no 
further  information  out  of  the  man,  for  he  does 
not  know  the  name  of  the  One  who  healed  him. 
Having  scented  heresy,  however,  they  start  off  in 
eager  pursuit,  leaving  the  man  to  himself. 

We  next  find  him  in  the  Temple,  and  it  is  a 
matter  of  speculation  what  took  him  there.  It 
seems  more  probable  that  he  had  gone  to  make  a 
trespass  offering  for  his  unintentional  breach  of  the 
Sabbath,  than  to  suppose  that  he  had  gone  to  offer 
thanksgiving  for  his  recovery.  The  words  of  the 
Pharisees  would  be  likely  to  make  a  deeper 
impression  upon  a  nature  of  his  description  than 
the  words  of  Christ,  and  it  is  consequently  far 
more  probable  that  his  visit  to  the  temple  was 
intended  to  free  himself  from  the  consequences  of 
a  sin,  than  that  he  went  to  offer  thanks  for  a 
recovery  of  whose  advantage  he  was  growing  more 
and  more  doubtful.  Christ  meets  him  in  the 
Temple  Courts,  and,  reading  the  man's  nature, 
warns  him  against  a  repetition  of  the  life  of  sin, 
which  had  brought  so  much  suffering  in  its  train. 


74    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     vi 

"  See,"  He  says,  *'  you  have  been  restored  to  health  ; 
sin  no  more  lest  a  worse  evil  overtake  you."  The 
restored  health  has  itself  taken  the  man  back  to 
his  early  days,  and  already  the  old  passions  are 
stirring  within  him.  He  is  afraid  of  what  may 
happen  to  him  for  a  breach  of  the  Sabbath,  and  has 
hastened  to  the  Temple  to  make  his  trespass 
offering.  But  he  is  oblivious  of  the  sins  of  his 
early  life,  and  unmindful  of  the  lesson  which 
thirty-eight  years  of  suffering  ought  to  have  taught 
him.  He  is  already  considering  to  what  haunt  of 
vice  he  shall  direct  his  steps  after  leaving  the 
Temple,  and  there  is  a  deeper  flush  than  that  of 
health  upon  his  cheek,  as  his  mind  has  already 
preceded  him  to  the  place.  Like  a  spendthrift 
who  has  suddenly  come  into  an  unexpected  fortune, 
he  is  eager  to  renew  the  pleasures  which  have  so 
long  been  denied  him.  Suddenly  Christ  confronts 
him  with  the  forgotten  sins  of  the  past,  but  linked 
to  the  present  by  those  long  years  of  suffering  and 
helplessness.  The  bond  has  been  severed,  but 
beware  lest  a  new  one  is  made.  Beware  of  the 
old  habit  and  the  old  associations,  lest  an  even 
worse  fate  befall  you.  The  man's  health  has  been 
restored,  but  his  nature  has  not  been  changed. 
He  can  now  walk,  but  his  steps  are  moving  in  the 
old  direction,  and  his  feet  are  swift  to  follow  the 
old  paths.  His  thirty-eight  years  of  suffering  are 
bad  enough,  but  a  worse  fate  is  looming  in  the 
distance. 


VI  DEBASED  BY  SUFFERING  75 

The  man  makes  no  reply.  He  can  neither  deny 
the  reference  to  the  past,  nor  can  he  mistake  the 
allusion  to  the  present.  He  is  one  of  those, 
however,  to  whom  a  warning  is  disagreeable,  and 
who  resent  advice.  In  place  of  gratitude  he  feels 
dislike.  He  recognises  his  Healer  in  the  Friend 
who  warns  him,  and  his  mind  instantly  turns 
to  the  command  to  take  up  his  mat,  and  the 
Pharisaic  reproof  to  which  it  subjected  him. 
Resentment  for  the  warning  against  a  return  to 
the  old  life  overcomes  any  feeling  of  gratitude 
for  the  restoration  to  health  conferred,  and  he 
immediately  goes  off  to  the  Pharisees  to  tell  them 
the  name  of  the  Man  whom  they  were  anxious  to 
persecute.  A  worse  thing  may  or  may  not  happen 
to  himself,  but  he  will  pay  off  one  score  at  least, 
and  bring  upon  his  Benefactor  who  has  warned 
him  the  enmity  and  opposition  of  the  authorities, 
and  thereby  possibly  save  himself.  There  is  a 
meanness  in  the  man's  nature  which  neither 
suffering  can  eradicate  nor  benevolence  overcome. 
There  is  a  taint  in  the  blood,  which  not  even  an 
elixir  can  remove.  As  a  paralytic  he  will  complain 
that  no  one  will  help  him,  and  be  jealous  of  the 
blessings  others  receive.  As  a  miracle  of  healing 
himself,  he  will  seek  to  shield  himself  at  the  expense 
of  his  Benefactor,  and  in  resentment  at  a  warning 
only  too  much  needed,  he  will  denounce  to  the 
authorities  the  Man  who  has  saved  him.  He 
repays  the  solemn  warning  with  petty  spite,  and 


76    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     vi 

presents  as  his  fee  for  healing,  the  nails  which 
are  to  pierce  the  hands  that  have  blessed  him. 
"  On  this  account  the  Jews  began  to  persecute 
Jesus  because  He  did  these  things  on  the 
Sabbath." 


VII 

THE    RITUALISTS 
Matthew  xv.  1-20  ;  Mark  vii.  1-23. 

There  are  some  men  whose  influence  is  in  inverse 
proportion  to  the  intrinsic  merit  both  of  themselves 
and  of  their  opinions.  Attention  has  to  be  directed 
towards  them,  not '  on  account  of  what  they  are  in 
themselves,  but  solely  on  account  of  the  fungus 
growth  which  they  encourage.  In  themselves  they 
call  for  no  more  notice  than  the  passing  glance; 
their  opinions  are  intrinsically  worthless,  yet  the 
influence  they  wield  compels  the  most  careful 
attention,  and  the  efl^ort  to  counteract  it  demands 
the  most  strenuous  exertion.  The  explanation  of 
this  anomaly  is  to  be  found  in  the  abnormal  power 
they  possess  for  exaggeration  and  distortion,  by 
virtue  of  which  they  are  able  to  make  the  trifling 
appear  the  serious,  and  the  serious  the  trifling. 
Their  mental  perspective  is  the  exact  reverse  of  the 
normal.  They  see  the  remote  as  near,  the  near  as 
remote,  the  great  appears  small  and  the  small  great. 
They    make   mountains   out    of    mole-hills,    and 

77 


78    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    vii 

scrupulously  strain  out  the  gnat  while  they  swallow 
the  camel.  If  they  were  mere  amateur  painters,  the 
lack  of  normal  perspective  would  be  comparatively 
harmless,  but,  unfortunately,  they  generally  set 
up  as  professional  artists,  and  seek  to  control 
the  public  Galleries.  If  their  opinions  were  mere 
private  beliefs  they  would  be  innocuous,  but  as  a 
rule  they  are  the  dogmas  of  a  propaganda  and 
dangerous  to  the  community.  They  offer  them- 
selves as  guides  to  the  blind,  and  as  physicians  to 
the  sick  ;  hence  it  is  as  public  men  and  not  as 
private  individuals  that  they  must  be  regarded. 
That  which  is  mere  delusion  in  the  latter  is  fraud 
in  the  former. 

In  the  sphere  of  religion  such  men  find  a 
wide  and  fruitful  field  for  their  activities.  In  no 
branch  of  human  knowlege  is  mental  perspective 
more  important,  and  in  none  is  defective  vision  so 
pernicious.  Everything  is  capable  of  being  looked 
at  from  two  very  different  standpoints,  the  human 
and  the  divine.  That  which  is  near  to  the  one  is 
remote  to  the  other,  that  which  is  great  to  the 
one  is  small  to  the  other.  The  impressions  of 
sight  need  correcting  by  means  of  the  intuitions  of 
insight.  When  the  unseen  is  visualised,  it  is 
essential  that  the  material  medium  be  spiritualised. 
It  is  here  that  the  perils  of  ceremonial  manifest 
themselves.  Ritual  is  the  attempt  to  materialise 
the  intangible,  to  manifest  the  imperceptible.  The 
spiritual  feeling,  therefore,  must  be  of  the  finest, 


VII  THE  RITUALISTS  79 

and  the  spiritual  vision  of  the  keenest,  or  it 
degenerates  into  the  grossest  materialism.  If  there 
is  no  spiritual  insight  in  the  one  who  celebrates  the 
rite,  the  celebration  is  a  mere  performance  ;  if 
there  is  no  perception  of  the  spiritual  in  the  minds 
of  those  who  look  on,  the  ceremony  is  a  mere 
spectacle.  The  ritual  of  religion,  therefore,  offers 
a  rich  soil  in  which  the  poisonous  fungus  of  the 
unreal  flourishes  and  spreads.  The  lack  of  a  true 
perspective  is  fatal ;  an  inaccurate  sense  of  pro- 
portion is  disastrous.  That  which  is  nearest  to 
the  senses  is  the  most  remote  from  the  soul ;  that 
which  is  most  striking  to  the  eye  is  of  least 
importance,  while  that  which  to  sight  is  the  great, 
is  to  insight  the  least.  The  man,  therefore,  who 
perceives  only  the  medium  through  which  the 
intangible  is  materialised,  has  sight  but  not  insight. 
He  sees  everything  out  of  the  true  perspective, 
exaggerates  the  trifling  into  the  serious,  mistakes 
the  material  for  the  spiritual,  and  substitutes  the 
form  for  the  substance.  If  the  rite  were  always 
the  expression  of  the  spiritual  feeling  which 
instituted  it,  the  danger  would  be  reduced  to  a 
minimum,  but,  unfortunately,  the  origin  of  the 
rite  is  in  the  dim  past.  The  feeling  may  long 
since  have  passed  away  but  the  rite  remains,  and, 
separated  from  the  sentiment  which  gave  it  life,  it 
is  a  body  without  a  soul,  material  and  not  spiritual. 
It  carries  with  it  no  innate  authority  but  rests  upon 
the    traditions  of  the    past.       In    the    sphere    of 


8o    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    vii 

religion,  therefore,  the  tendency  of  ritualism  is  to 
place  the  emphasis  not  on  the  response  of  the  soul 
to  the  spiritual  influences  by  which  it  is  surrounded, 
but  on  the  due  observance  of  the  ceremonies  which 
a  past  generation  has  handed  down.  It  is  an 
attempt  to  resuscitate  the  dead,  to  bring  back  the 
life  that  has  passed  away,  by  galvanising  the  corpse. 
While  in  practice  it  is  allied  to  the  Pharisees,  in 
belief  it  is  allied  to  the  Sadducees.  It  maintains 
that  there  is  no  resurrection  nor  angel  nor  spirit. 
It  fails,  that  is,  to  see  that  the  life  which  has  passed 
away  cannot  be  resuscitated — it  must  rise  from  the 
dead  and  take  on  a  new  body.  It  fails  to  see  that 
the  religious  life  of  the  present  cannot  be  con- 
trolled by  the  traditions  of  the  past,  but  must  be 
a  reponse  to  the  direction  of  the  Angel  of  the 
Covenant.  It  forgets  that  the  spirit  and  not 
the  body  is  the  permanent  and  abiding  factor 
in  the  religious  life. 

Opinions  and  beliefs  which  in  the  private 
individual  merely  arouse  pity,  when  found  in  the 
public  teacher  and  leader  arouse  indignation.  We 
feel  that  the  man  is  not  merely  blind — he  is  a  blind 
guide.  He  is  not  only  risking  his  own  life,  he  is 
imperilling  the  lives  of  his  followers.  His  conceits 
may  in  themselves  be  contemptuous,  but  as 
deceptions  practised  upon  the  masses  they  are 
criminal.  This  is  the  explanation  of  that  scathing 
denunciation  which  Christ  pronounced  upon  the 
Pharisees  of  His   day,  and    the  important   place 


VII  THE  RITUALISTS  8i 

the  exposure  of  their  teaching  occupied  in  His 
public  ministry.  Blind  themselves  to  the  spiritual, 
they  professed  to  be  the  spiritual  leaders  of  the 
nation  ;  their  opinions,  puerile  in  themselves,  were 
received  as  the  authoritative  utterances  of  the  wise. 
Conflict  was  inevitable  and  He  never  shirked  it. 
He  necessarily  laid  Himself  open  to  constant 
attack,  and  they  never  missed  an  opportunity. 
At  the  beginning,  He  merely  offended  their  taste 
and  excited  their  desire  for  controversy,  but  as 
they  became  more  acquainted  with  the  principles 
He  enunciated,  distaste  deepened  into  bitter  hatred, 
and  conspiracy  took  the  place  of  controversy. 

The  party  of  Scribes  and  Pharisees  from  Jeru- 
salem who  waited  upon  Him  as  He  stepped  ashore 
from  the  Lake  of  Gennesaret  were  men  whose 
religious  feelings  had  been  offended  by  the  action 
of  His  disciples  in  sitting  down  to  their  meal 
without  first  performing  the  religious  ceremony  of 
washing  their  hands.  It  was  not  a  question  of 
manners,  it  was  one  of  ritual.  It  was  not  a 
question  of  eating  with  clean  instead  of  unclean 
hands,  it  was  a  question  of  the  non-observance  of 
a  religious  ceremony.  It  was  not  a  breach  of 
etiquette,  it  was  a  transgression  against  religious 
authority.  "  Why  do  your  disciples  transgress 
the  tradition  of  the  Elders,  in  not  purifying  their 
hands  before  meals  ? "  They  do  not  ask  a 
question,  they  administer  a  rebuke.  They  are 
not   puzzled,   they    are    shocked.     They   do    not 

G 


82    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    vii 

appeal  for  a  justification,  they  demand  an  emphatic 
condemnation.  Their  faces  are  flushed  with  in- 
dignation, their  brows  are  contracted  with  severity. 
The  disciples  themselves  are  overwhelmed  with  con- 
fusion, and  hang  their  heads  to  conceal  their  shame. 
There  is  a  flush  on  the  face  of  Christ  as  He 
turns  to  reply,  but  it  is  not  from  shame  at  His 
disciples,  but  with  indignation  at  their  accusers. 
There  is  the  glint  of  steel  in  the  flash  of  His  eye 
as  He  confronts  them  with  the  retort,  *'  Why  do 
you  too  transgress  the  commandments  of  God  on 
account  of  this  very  tradition  of  yours  ?  For  God 
said.  Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother,  and 
again,  Let  him  who  reviles  father  or  mother  be 
certainly  put  to  death  ;  but  as  for  you  with  your 
traditions,  this  is  what  you  say : — If  a  man  declares 
about  anything  of  which  his  parents  stand  in  the 
sorest  need,  that  it  is  consecrated,  he  is  absolved 
from  the  commandment  to  honour  his  father  and 
mother,  and  in  this  way  you  have  actually  cancelled 
the  command  of  God  for  the  sake  of  your  tradition. 
You  hypocrites !  aptly  did  Isaiah  describe  you  in 
anticipation  when  he  wrote — "This  is  a  people  who 
honour  me  with  their  lips,  while  their  heart  is  far 
away  from  me  ;  they  worship  me  to  no  purpose 
while  they  offer  as  teaching,  forsooth,  mere  human 
precepts."  The  retort  is  overwhelming,  but  it  is 
richly  deserved.  It  is  no  mere  Tu  quoque  reply 
to  a  charge,  it  is  the  triumphant  acquittal  of  the 
accused  by  means  of  the  conviction  of  the  accuser. 


VII  THE  RITUALISTS  83 

The  charge  of  pilfering  is  based  upon  an  inter- 
pretation of  the  law  which  proves  that  the  prose- 
cutor has  all  his  life  been  living  by  highway- 
robbery.  These  men  who  are  so  particular  about 
washing  their  hands  before  sitting  down  to  a  meal 
can  be  guilty  of  parricide.  Their  mental  per- 
spective is  so  abnormal  that  the  performance  of  a 
religious  rite  must  take  precedence  over  the  dis- 
charge of  the  plainest  natural  duty.  They  will 
allow  the  utterance  of  a  word  to  absolve  a  man 
from  the  obligations  of  a  lifetime.  They  are 
shocked  at  the  disciples  for  the  omission  to  wash 
their  hands  before  taking  their  food,  but  they 
smile  approval  on  the  man  who,  in  order  to 
discharge  a  selfish  vow,  outrages  every  natural 
instinct  and  cancels  the  command  of  God.  They 
are  sitting  on  the  judge's  bench,  when  they  should 
be  standing  in  the  prisoner's  dock.  This  is  no 
question  of  the  interpretation  of  a  law  of  Moses, 
it  is  the  abrogation  of  a  command  of  God,  and 
the  substitution  of  the  figment  of  the  diseased 
imagination  of  some  egotistical  Rabbi.  It  is  not  a 
question  of  mere  difference  of  opinion,  it  is  the 
divergence  of  principles  which  are  as  far  asunder 
as  the  poles.  These  men  are  not  critics,  but 
hypocrites  ;  they  are  not  blind,  but  bUndfolded  ; 
they  are  not  seeking  guidance,  but  are  professing 
to  guide.  The  position  they  occupy  invests  their 
opinions  with  a  moral  significance.  Their  folly  is 
vicious,  their  mistake  criminal. 


84    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    vii 

Turning  from  the  discomfited  Scribes  and 
Pharisees,  He  addresses  the  people,  upon  whose 
faces,  as  well  as  upon  those  of  His  disciples, 
astonishment  is  plainly  depicted.  They  can  to 
a  certain  extent  appreciate  the  positive  in  His 
teaching,  and  welcome  His  vindication  of  the 
commandments.  They  cannot,  however,  under- 
stand His  defence  of  a  breach  of  ritual  of  which 
they  are  self-conscious.  "  Listen  to  me  all  of  you,'* 
He  says,  *  *  and  try  and  understand.  There  is  nothing 
external  to  a  man  which  by  getting  inside  his  body 
can  defile  the  man.  It  is  the  things  which  are 
internal,  and  which  come  out  of  the  man,  which 
defile  him."  A  true  mental  perspective  distin- 
guishes between  the  essential  and  the  non-essential, 
between  the  external  act  and  the  internal  spirit. 
It  is  neither  the  ceremony  which  can  produce  true 
purity  nor  the  omission  of  the  ceremony  which 
can  produce  impurity.  The  ceremony  is  external 
to  the  man  ;  purity  and  impurity  are  something 
internal,  in  the  mind  and  not  in  the  body.  It  is 
the  impure  heart  and  not  the  unclean  hands  which 
defile  the  man. 

After  the  crowd  has  dispersed,  and  the  Master 
and  His  disciples  are  in  the  privacy  of  the  house, 
the  disciples,  who  have  apparently  been  turning 
the  matter  over  in  their  minds,  trying  to  under- 
stand but  failing,  refer  to  the  subject  again.  '  "  Do 
you  not  know,"  they  ask  Him,  "that  the  Pharisees 
were  greatly  shocked  when  they  heard  what  you 


VII  THE  RITUALISTS  85 

said  ?  "  They  are  themselves  so  conscious  of  their 
breach  of  the  traditions,  that  they  are  afraid  He 
has  said  more  than  He  intended  in  His  generous 
defence  of  themselves.  The  teaching  of  the 
Pharisees  is  too  deeply  planted  within  them  to 
be  easily  uprooted.  They  feel  that  they  were  at 
fault  in  not  performing  the  ceremony,  and  that  it 
would  perhaps  have  been  wiser  if  He  had  acknow- 
ledged it. 

Christ  sees  the  weed  which  Pharisaic  teaching 
and  training  has  planted  within  their  minds,  and 
realises  that  they  will  find  it  difficult  to  pull  it  up. 
"  Every  plant  which  my  Heavenly  Father  has  not 
planted  will  be  rooted  up,'*  He  answers.  The 
merely  human  precepts  which  the  Pharisees  have 
substituted  for  the  true  teaching  which  they  ought 
to  have  imparted  will  be  uprooted  as  noxious 
weeds.  As  for  their  being  shocked,  "  Let  them 
alone,"  He  adds,  "  they  are  not  worth  considering. 
They  are  blind  guides  leading  along  blind  men, 
and  according  to  the  proverb,  if  the  blind  lead  the 
blind,  they  will  both  fall  into  the  pit,  so  it  will  be 
with  them  and  those  who  follow  them." 

Peter  suddenly  interrupts  the  conversation. 
He  has  been  going  over  the  answer  of  Christ,  and 
trying  to  find  out  what  was  meant  by  the  inner 
which  defiles  and  the  outer  which  does  not  defile, 
and  he  can  make  nothing  of  it.  Suddenly  the 
proverb  which  Christ  mentions  gives  him  an  idea. 
Perhaps  it  is  a  parable,  and  the  words  are  figures 


86    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    vii 

of  speech.  He  has  often  mistaken  the  parabolic 
for  the  Hteral,  now  he  mistakes  the  Hteral  for  the 
parabolic.  *'  Explain  to  us,"  he  exclaims,  "  this 
parable'^ 

Christ  has  no  difficulty  in  understanding  the 
reference.  He  sees  at  once  the  reason  for  Peter's 
perplexed  look.  Pharisaic  mystification  has  made 
it  impossible  for  Peter  to  understand  a  plain  state- 
ment. He  is  so  convinced  of  the  reality  of  cere- 
monial impurity,  that  he  cannot  grasp  the  plainest 
statement  of  what  real  impurity  actually  is.  "  Are 
even  you,  my  own  disciples,  still  lacking  in  per- 
ception.^" Christ  asks.  ''Do  you  not  see  that 
what  I  said  was  no  parable,  but  literal  fact  ^  The 
mouth  gives  admission  to  the  material  only,  and 
the  food  can  affect  the  body  merely.  The  words, 
however,  which  come  out  of  the  mouth  issue  from 
the  heart,  and  reveal  its  inner  thoughts  and  desires. 
These  are  the  things  that  defile  the  man.  For 
out  of  the  heart  proceed  evil  thoughts,  murder, 
adultery,  fornication,  theft,  perjury,  and  blasphemy. 
These,  and  not  the  mere  omission  of  a  ceremony, 
are  the  things  which  defile."  It  is  not  a  question 
of  purity  versus  impurity,  or  of  the  relative  im- 
portance of  different  ceremonies.  It  is  a  question 
of  fact  as  against  fiction,  of  reality  as  against  sham, 
which  divides  Him  from  the  Pharisees,  His  teach- 
ing from  their  traditions.  The  appeal  is  not  to 
the  dicta  of  dead  Rabbis,  but  to  the  living  voice  of 
reason  and  conscience.     The  fatal  error  of  mere 


vn  THE  RITUALISTS  87 

ceremonialism  is  in  the  emphasis  it  lays  upon  the 
external,  and  in  its  utter  lack  of  a  true  perspective. 
The  more  logically  its  system  is  worked  out,  the 
more  irrational  do  its  conclusions  appear.  Like  a 
parasite,  it  flourishes  at  the  expense  of  the  life  which 
nourishes  it.  It  destroys  the  religion  which  has 
sustained  it,  and  petrifies  the  heart  which  has 
cherished  it. 


VIII 

THE    SOCIAL    PROBLEM 
Luke  xil.  1-21. 

The  inequalities  of  life  have  ever  been  a  subject 
of  deep  human  interest.  The  affluence  of  the  rich 
in  comparison  with  the  grinding  poverty  of  the 
poor  has  presented  its  striking  contrast  to  every 
age,  and  offered  its  perplexing  problem  to  every 
generation.  The  problem  is  too  real  to  be  ignored  ; 
its  voice  is  too  clamant  to  be  unheeded.  It  forces 
itself  into  the  study  of  the  philosopher,  it  walks 
unannounced  into  the  office  of  the  merchant,  it 
interviews  the  statesman,  and  pushes  its  way  into 
the  Church.  The  problem  appeals  to  the  reason 
no  less  than  to  the  emotions.  We  are  impressed 
with  the  irrational  as  well  as  with  the  pathetic  in 
it,  and  it  enlists  the  head  no  less  than  the  heart  in 
the  attempt  at  a  solution.  It  cries  for  justice  as 
well  as  begs  for  charity.  The  question  of  social 
reform  finds  advocates  in  every  rank  of  life,  and 
draws  its  supporters  from  men  and  women  of 
every  shade  of  opinion.     The  peer  rubs  shoulders 

s$ 


VIII  THE  SOCIAL  PROBLEM  89 

with  the  peasant,  theologian  with  scientist,  states- 
man with  demagogue,  Christian  with  agnostic,  and 
pessimist  with  optimist.  It  has  a  wonderful  power 
of  absorbing  the  attention,  so  that  to  some  it  is  the 
only  political  question,  to  others  it  is  the  only 
science,  and  to  others  again  it  is  the  only  religion. 
The  solutions  offered  are  as  diverse  as  the  ad- 
vocates are  varied.  The  panaceas  discovered  are 
as  numerous  as  they  are  ineffective.  There  is, 
however,  one  remarkable  uniformity  amidst  all  the 
variety,  one  point  of  agreement  amidst  all  the 
differences  of  opinion.  Almost  without  exception 
every  solution  involves  an  appeal  to  some  external 
authority,  whose  power  is  to  be  invoked  to  rectify 
what  is  wrong.  If  the  evil  is  regarded  as  the 
effect  of  bad  legislation,  the  remedy  is  to  be  found 
in  good  legislation.  If  it  is  the  result  of  the  power 
of  the  classes,  the  remedy  is  to  be  found  in 
arousing  the  dormant  power  of  the  masses.  The 
efficacy  of  the  remedies  is  proportionate  to  the 
accuracy  of  the  diagnosis.  The  real  question  to 
be  first  settled  is  the  accuracy  of  the  diagnosis  ; 
for  a  blister  to  the  skin  is  no  remedy  for  a 
disease  which  is  in  the  blood.  If  the  disease 
is  in  human  nature  and  not  in  its  environment, 
legislation  may  to  some  extent  relieve  the  pain, 
but  it  cannot  remedy  the  evil.  Strict  equity 
demands  that  the  case  of  the  poor  against  the 
rich  shall  be  set  side  by  side  with  the  case  of 
the  rich  against  the  poor.     The  right  of  the  one 


90    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  viii 

to  obtain  must  not  conflict  with  the  equal  right  of 
the  other  to  retain.  It  is  right  that  Law  should 
remove  the  evil  Law  has  produced,  but  it  is 
impossible  for  Law  to  remove  the  pains  and 
penalties  which  Nature  has  imposed.  These  are 
in  a  province  beyond  its  jurisdiction.  If  relief  is 
to  be  sought  from  these,  the  alteration  must  be 
effected  in  the  courts  of  the  higher  tribunal. 
Human  legislation  is  but  the  executive  of  human 
nature,  and  it  cannot  be  in  advance  of  the  measures 
which  the  latter  enjoins.  It  is  the  High  Court  of 
Parliament  and  not  the  executive  which  can  alter 
the  constitution.  It  is  not  to  a  new  executive, 
but  to  a  reformed  Parliament  that  the  redress  of 
grievances  must  be  submitted.  The  evil  com- 
plained of  is  not  so  much  in  bad  legislation  as  in 
a  corrupt  human  nature.  Relief  must  be  sought, 
therefore,  not  in  a  mere  alteration  of  the  environ- 
ment, but  in  amending  the  constitution  ;  not  in 
repealing  old  laws  or  enacting  new  ones,  so  much 
as  in  reforming  human  nature  and  ennobling  it. 
The  difference  between  a  religious  and  a  non- 
religious  social  reformer  is  to  be  found  not  in  any 
indifference  on  the  part  of  the  one,  or  in  any 
extra  sensitiveness  on  the  part  of  the  other,  but 
in  the  different  diagnosis  of  the  disease.  The  one 
attributes  it  to  the  constitution,  the  other  to  the 
environment ;  and  as  a  consequence  the  one  seeks 
to  make  men,  while  the  other  seeks  to  make  laws. 
The  difference  in  the  diagnosis  is  sure  to  lead  to 


VIII  THE  SOCIAL  PROBLEM  91 

the  disapproval  by  the  one  of  the  treatment 
of  the  other.  Misunderstanding  and  friction  are 
inevitable,  but  it  would  be  well  if  both  recognised 
that  their  aims  are  one,  and  gave  each  other  credit 
for  equal  sincerity. 

The  attitude  of  Christ  to  this  question  of 
social  reform  has  been  very  differently  interpreted. 
The  non- religious  party  have  both  claimed  and 
repudiated  Him.  The  religious  party  have  both 
claimed  and  misrepresented  Him.  His  sympathy 
cannot  be  questioned,  for  His  life  was  spent 
amongst  the  poor.  His  attitude,  however,  must 
be  decided  by  the  sentiments  He  expressed  and 
the  principles  He  enunciated.  His  interview  with 
the  aggrieved  brother  who  came  to  solicit  His 
assistance  in  securing  his  inheritance  is  very 
suggestive  of  His  attitude  to  the  question  of 
social  reform.  From  the  account  in  the  Gospel  of 
Luke,  where  alone  the  incident  is  recorded,  it 
would  appear  that  He  was  in  the  middle  of  a 
discourse  to  a  vast  company  of  people,  who,  in  their 
eagerness  to  hear  what  He  had  to  say,  were 
exhibiting  all  the  selfishness  of  a  great  crowd. 
The  discourse  began  with  a  reference  to  the 
hypocrisy  of  the  Pharisees,  which,  though  carefully 
concealed,  would  at  length  be  exposed.  Recognis- 
ing the  friendly  character  of  His  audience,  He 
speaks  to  them  freely,  encouraging  them  not  to 
be  afraid  of  men,  since  they  are  in  the  keeping  of 
God,    the    Divine    Father.     If  they  are   brought 


92    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  viri 

before  the  authorities,  whether  civil  or  religious, 
they  need  have  no  anxiety  as  to  their  defence,  for 
the  Holy  Spirit  will  teach  them  to  suit  the  word 
to  the  occasion.  One  man  in  the  crowd  hears  but 
is  not  listening.  His  mind  is  occupied  with  a 
concern  which  is  all-absorbing.  He  is  one  of  the 
great  unemployed,  and  has  drifted  with  the  crowds 
who  are  streaming  to  listen  to  the  Prophet  of 
Nazareth.  His  brother  has  withheld  the  share  of 
the  inheritance  which  he  considers  to  be  due  to 
him,  and  the  injustice  rankles  in  his  breast.  A 
word  here  and  there  arrests  his  attention,  as  it  fits 
in  with  the  one  subject  which  is  always  occupying 
his  mind.  The  hypocrisy  which  is  denounced 
fitly  represents  his  brother's  conduct,  and  the 
declaration  that  the  thing  which  has  been  done 
in  secret  shall  be  exposed  openly,  gives  him  a 
momentary  feeling  of  pleasure  as  he  thinks  of  his 
brother's  secret  injustice.  The  reference  to  being 
brought  before  magistrates  and  rulers  suddenly 
quickens  his  interest  in  the  preacher,  and  the 
promise  of  the  gift  of  speech  which  will  enable 
a  man  to  say  the  right  thing  at  the  right  moment 
makes  him  elbow  his  way  through  the  crowd,  and 
interrupt  the  discourse  with  the  request  for 
assistance  in  prosecuting  his  case  against  his 
brother.  Like  a  would-be  litigant  hanging  around 
a  law  court,  he  thinks  he  has  found  the  advocate 
he  needs.  Here  is  one  who  can  speak  fearlessly, 
can  say  just  what  ought  to  be  said,  and  say  it  at 


VIII  THE  SOCIAL  PROBLEM  93 

the  right  time  and  with  the  right  feeling.  If  this 
man  will  only  undertake  his  case,  it  is  practically 
won.  Absorbed  with  the  importance  of  his  own 
grievance,  he  is  oblivious  to  everything  else. 
"  Ho  !  Preacher,"  he  cries  out,  "  tell  my  brother 
to  give  me  my  share  of  the  inheritance."  There 
is  a  fierceness  in  the  man's  tones  which  indicates 
suppressed  passion.  There  is  an  abruptness  in  the 
address  which  reveals  his  self-absorption.  He  is 
unconscious  of  the  thousand  eyes  which  are  turned 
in  his  direction,  he  is  oblivious  to  the  interruption 
he  has  caused.  He  is  typical  of  a  mighty  and 
impatient  host,  and  his  fierce  appeal  against  a 
brother's  injustice  is  representative  of  the  passionate 
demand  for  a  share  in  the  world's  wealth,  which 
the  poor  make,  of  the  rich.  There  is  the  same 
sense  of  urgency,  the  same  indifference  to  every 
other  question.  What  is  the  use  of  talking  about 
the  spiritual  when  the  material  is  so  pressing  ? 
Why  speak  about  the  hypocrisy  of  the  Pharisee 
when  it  is  the  greed  of  the  brother  which  calls  for 
denunciation  ?  If  religion  is  to  be  of  any  practical 
value,  let  it  busy  itself  with  righting  crying 
wrongs,  and  reinstating  the  disinherited.  Let  the 
preacher  descend  from  the  pulpit  and  settle  the 
dispute  between  capital  and  labour,  inherent  rights 
and  vested  interests.  Leave  the  crowds  who  have 
merely  come  to  listen  to  a  preacher,  and  go  and 
speak  to  the  brother  who  has  usurped  the 
inheritance.     From  the  individual  man's  point  of 


94    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  viii 

view  there  is  reason  in  his  demand,  and  justifica- 
tion for  his  impatience.  To  him  nothing  is  of 
importance  as  long  as  his  brother  is  left  in 
undisturbed  possession  of  the  inheritance  he  has 
usurped.  A  single  word  to  the  brother  is  worth 
more  than  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount ;  the  righting 
of  his  wrong  is  of  more  value  than  the  Magna 
Charta  of  Christendom. 

It  is  not  the  interruption  which  Christ  resents, 
it  is  the  man's  selfish  absorption  which  he  reproves. 
It  is  not  the  man's  view  of  his  case,  but  the  man's 
view  of  life  which  he  condemns.  "  Man,"  He  an- 
swers, "  who  has  made  me  a  judge  or  divider  over 
you .?  "  The  title  is  a  reminder  that  the  man  is  a 
unit,  his  case  is  one  among  millions  of  similar  ones. 
It  turns  his  attention  to  the  thronging  crowds  who 
have  an  equal  right  to  be  heard,  and  as  important 
claims  upon  Christ's  attention.  What  to  the  indi- 
vidual may  be  of  supreme  concern,  may  to  the  race 
be  of  little  moment.  The  man  has  to  learn  that 
there  are  others  in  the  world  beside  himself  and 
his  brother,  and  that  there  are  greater  interests  in 
life  than  the  division  of  property.  The  tone  is 
necessarily  severe,  but  the  man's  self- absorption 
has  demanded  it ;  his  wrong  is  to  a  certain  extent 
treated  with  unconcern,  but  his  over-emphasis  has 
necessitated  it.  We  are  all  too  much  inclined  to 
think  that  the  world  must  be  stopped  while  our 
grievance  is  attended  to,  and  that  the  Almighty 
Himself  must  intervene  to  decide  the  case  in  our 


VIII  THE  SOCIAL  PROBLEM  95 

favour.  Christ  declines,  and  that  deliberately,  to 
exchange  the  position  of  preacher  for  that  of 
arbitrator.  There  is  no  contempt  in  His  refusal, 
but  there  is  that  high  conception  of  the  supreme 
importance  of  His  mission  of  which  mere  con- 
tempt is  the  shadow  and  not  the  substance.  There 
is  no  mistaking  the  meaning  of  His  refusal.  In 
His  conception  the  preacher  towers  above  statesman 
and  judge,  legislator  and  lawyer.  The  reformation 
of  human  nature  takes  precedence  over  every  other 
reform.  A  superficial  view  of  life  may  invest  the 
champion  of  oppression  and  the  redresser  of 
wrongs  with  a  greater  glory  than  that  which  it 
accords  to  the  teacher  ;  but  a  true  insight  into  the 
significance  of  life  will  recognise  that  the  teacher's 
work  is  more  radical,  has  a  more  potent  influence 
and  a  more  far-reaching  effect.  For  one  wrong 
which  the  redresser  may  set  right,  there  are  a 
thousand  which  the  teacher  may  prevent.  The 
champion  of  oppression  in  denouncing  a  single 
wrong  may  stir  up  a  dozen  evil  passions  to  produce 
their  own  harvest  of  injustice,  while  the  teacher 
may  instil  a  principle  rich  in  gracious  influence  and 
potent  in  blessing  to  thousands  of  lives.  The 
beatitudes  which  Christ  uttered  on  the  Mount  have 
had  a  more  potent  influence  on  human  life  than  the 
legislation  which  proceeded  from  that  other  Mount, 
all  ablaze  with  fire,  shrouded  in  gloom  and  tempest, 
and  resounding  with  the  blast  of  trumpet  and  the 
sound   of  words.      The  platform   may  be   more 


96    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  viii 

popular  than  the  pulpit,  but  the  pulpit  will  always 
be  more  potent  for  good  than  the  platform. 

The  aggrieved  brother  retired,  probably  to  add 
to  his  other  grievances  resentment  against  the 
preacher  who  declined  to  interfere  in  his  quarrel. 
He  has  accomplished  nothing  for  himself,  but  un- 
consciously much  for  others.  He  has  brought 
forward  a  bigger  problem  than  a  mere  dispute 
between  himself  and  his  brother,  about  their 
respective  share  of  the  family  inheritance.  He 
has  raised  the  social  problem,  and  though  Christ 
will  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  private  quarrel, 
He  has  much  to  say  on  the  larger  question.  The 
preacher  may  refuse  to  take  sides  in  private 
disputes,  but  he  must  take  a  stand  on  public 
questions.  He  is  the  teacher  of  all,  and  therefore 
he  can  be  the  partisan  of  none.  He  has  the 
charge  of  souls,  and  therefore  his  office  must  never 
be  a  sinecure.  From  the  man,  Christ  turns  to  the 
many  ;  from  the  petty  wrong  He  turns  to  the 
public  evil.  *'  Keep  a  good  lookout  and  a  strict 
guard,"  He  says,  "  against  every  kind  of  avarice — 
that  disposition  to  take  more  than  your  right  share, 
which  is  the  root  of  the  social  problem.  For  no 
man's  life  depends  upon  the  extent  of  his  property, 
or  the  amount  of  his  possessions."  This  is  no  hit 
at  the  man  who  has  left,  which  would  be  as  un- 
generous as  it  would  be  unjust.  He  has  distinctly 
refused  to  be  a  judge  in  the  dispute,  and  it  is  unjust 
both  to  the  aggrieved  brother  and  to  Christ  to 


VIII  THE  SOCIAL  PROBLEM  97 

suppose  that  he  is  here  reproved  for  avarice.  There 
is,  in  fact,  an  absurdity  in  supposing  that  the  man 
who  has  been  deprived  of  his  share  of  the  family 
inheritance  is  rebuked  for  avarice  in  asking  for  the 
portion  that  belonged  to  him.  If  any  one  was  open 
to  the  charge,  it  was  the  brother  who  was  in 
possession,  rather  than  the  brother  who  was  turned 
out.  Christ's  reference,  however,  is  general  and  not 
particular.  He  deals  with  the  problem  of  which  the 
particular  case  was  but  an  illustration.  The  social 
problem  is  not  a  question  of  adjustment  of 
differences,  or  of  arbitration  between  disputants,  it 
has  much  deeper  roots,  which  are  embedded  in 
human  nature.  The  disease  is  not  a  simple 
eruption  of  the  skin,  it  is  a  poison  in  the  blood. 
It  is  not  a  mistaken  conception  of  the  relation 
between  capital  and  labour,  employer  and  employed, 
it  is  a  mistaken  conception  of  life.  At  the  root  of 
the  social  problem  is  a  radical  misconception  as  to 
what  constitutes  real  wealth,  and  of  what  is  involved 
in  true  living.  Wealth  is  a  word  whose  root  is  in 
the  moral  and  not  in  the  material  classification  of 
thoughts.  It  denotes  quality  rather  than  quantity, 
refers  to  what  a  man  is  rather  than  to  what  he  has, 
signifies  the  value  of  a  man's  life  rather  than  the . 
amount  he  leaves  behind.  The  current  coin  of 
thought  has  been  debased,  and  the  true  prosperity 
of  the  race  has  suffered  in  consequence.  Man  has 
substituted  goods  for  good,  riches  for  rich, 
price    for    value,    real    estate    for    real   condition, 

H 


98    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  viii 

effects  for  effect.  Instead  of  speaking  about 
the  good  a  man  has  done,  we  call  attention 
to  his  goods  ;  in  place  of  fixing  the  gaze  upon 
the  richness  of  a  man's  life,  we  speak  of  his 
riches  ;  instead  of  inquiring  the  value  of  a  man's 
labour,  we  ask  what  is  the  market  price.  We 
have  turned  the  clear  limpid  stream  which  rises 
in  the  heights  of  man's  moral  nature  and  sets  the 
seal  of  nobility  upon  him,  namely,  the  desire  for  a 
richer  and  fuller  life,  into  the  turpid,  foul-smelling 
and  poisonous  town  river  of  avarice — the  feverish 
desire  to  grasp  and  hold  lands  and  riches  and 
possessions.  It  is  this  degradation  of  the  true  con- 
ception of  life  which  is  at  the  root  of  the  social 
problem.  Christ  confronts  it  with  His  emphatic 
and  authoritative.  No.  A  man's  life  does  not 
consist,  universal  opinion  notwithstanding,  in  the 
abundance  of  his  possessions.  The  life  is  more 
than  meat  as  the  body  is  more  than  clothing. 
Christ  refused  to  act  as  arbitrator.  He  abstained 
from  proclaiming  any  scheme  of  social  reformation, 
but  in  placing  the  emphasis  on  life  rather  than 
on  riches,  on  what  a  man  is  rather  than  on  what 
he  has^  He  has  done  more  for  the  regeneration 
of  the  world,  and  the  reconstruction  of  a  true 
social  order,  than  can  possibly  be  effected  by 
the  most  perfect  system  of  social  reform.  He 
has  kindled  an  enthusiasm  for  humanity,  without 
which  no  reform  is  possible.  He  has  inspired  a 
sense  of  human  brotherhood  apart  from  which  a 


VIII  THE  SOCIAL  PROBLEM  99 

true  social  order  is  unattainable,  He  has  given  a 
new  meaning  to  human  life,  such  as  we  seek 
in  vain  apart  from  His  influence.  He  con- 
templated a  greater  end  than  the  reformation  of 
society.  He  sought  the  regeneration  of  the  race. 


IX 

THE    WOMAN    WHO    WOULD    NOT    BE    DENIED 
Matt.  XV.  21-28  ;  Mark  vii.  24-30. 

The  underlying  note  in  a  good  deal  of  our  modern 
literature  dealing  with  the  problem  of  life  is 
pessimistic.  It  is  the  acknowledgment  that  the 
mystery  of  existence  is  past  finding  out,  the  riddle 
which  the  Sphinx  propounds  is  not  worth  the 
attempt  at  finding  an  answer.  The  enthusiasms 
and  visions  of  early  life  have  been  replaced  with 
the  doubts  and  actualities  of  experience,  and  the 
apparent  inutility  of  all  the  strife  and  efibrt,  the 
disillusionments  and  disappointments  fill  us  with  an 
unutterable  sense  of  the  vanity  and  worthlessness 
of  it  all,  which  finds  expression  in  the  constantly 
recurring  question,  Cui  bono  ?  What  is  the 
meaning  of  the  vain  show,  the  painted  scenery  and 
the  masks  and  dresses  in  which  humanity  parades 
across  the  stage,  mumbles  its  part  and  makes  its 
gestures,  ere  the  curtain  drops  and  the  lights  are 
turned  out  ?  Has  it  indeed  any  meaning  at  all  ? 
To  some  life  is  a  gay  comedy,  while  to  others  it  is 

100 


IX       AN  IMPORTUNATE  GENTILE     loi 

a  grim  tragedy,  but  of  what  advantage  is  either  the 
humour  of  the  one  or  the  pathos  of  the  other  ? 
Is  the  pleasure  worth  the  having,  is  the  pathos 
worth  the  feeling  ?  After  all  is  the  play,  whether 
comedy  or  tragedy,  worth  the  money  we  have  to 
pay  for  it,  is  it  even  worth  paying  anything  at  all  ? 
Nay,  is  the  complimentary  ticket  even  worth 
taking  ?  We  have  lost  interest  even  in  the 
discussion  of  the  question  as  to  whether  pain  is  in 
excess  of  pleasure  or  pleasure  in  excess  of  pain. 
What  does  it  matter  which  ;  the  one  is  as  insipid 
as  the  other  is  sour.  The  whole  of  life  is  just  a 
clash  of  atoms  in  a  chaos,  out  of  which  something 
of  the  nature  of  a  cosmos  may  perchance  come, 
but  at  present  only  chaos  is  visible. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  this  modern 
pessimism  is  the  undue  emphasis  which  the  spirit 
of  the  age  has  placed  on  the  intrinsic  value  of 
mere  things.  We  are  accustomed  to  ask  the  price 
of  most  articles  with  which  we  have  to  deal,  and 
have  consequently  gained  the  habit  of  a  quick 
decision  as  to  whether  we  think  they  are  worth  the 
money.  In  our  trade  we  are  careful  to  make 
things  look  the  value  we  ask  for  them.  In  our 
scientific  pursuits  we  are  always  trying  to  find  out 
the  utility  of  our  discoveries,  and  attach  the  utmost 
importance  to  those  which  have  what  we  call  a 
marketable  value.  In  literature  we  first  ask 
whether  a  work  is  likely  to  sell,  and  only 
secondarily  whether  it  is  of  value.     The  news- 


102  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    ix 

paper  that  has  the  largest  circulation,  and  the 
novel  which  has  run  to  the  most  editions  are 
the  things  we  prize,  and  of  whose  value  we  seem 
assured.  The  result  is  that  we  apply  the  same 
standard  to  our  views  of  life.  Its  value  must  be 
on  the  surface  and  self-evident.  The  answer  to  the 
problem  must  appeal  to  this  business  instinct  which 
judges  in  a  moment,  telegraphs  its  decision,  and 
delivers  its  order  while  the  messenger  waits. 

We  are  apt  to  forget  that  the  truly  valuable  is 
always  the  priceless.  Our  weights  and  measures 
and  current  coins  are  inapplicable  to  the  real 
treasures  of  the  world.  Their  value  is  not  so 
much  in  themselves  as  in  the  effects  they  produce. 
The  value  of  a  work  of  art  is  not  in  the  cost  of 
the  materials,  nor  even  in  the  price  that  has  been 
paid  for  it,  but  in  the  emotions  it  excites  and  the 
influence  it  can  exert.  The  true  value  of  the 
possession  of  it  is  not  in  the  addition  it  makes  to 
our  collection,  but  in  what  it  is  able  to  extract 
from  us  ourselves.  It  must  be  judged,  therefore, 
not  by  what  it  is  intrinsically,  but  by  what  it 
accomplishes  in  the  sphere  of  the  spiritual  as  dis- 
tinct from  the  material.  A  true  conception  of 
life  similarly  passes  by  the  intrinsic,  and  fastens  on 
the  extrinsic.  Life  is  an  education,  and  its  value 
is  not  in  what  we  succeed  in  getting  out  of  it,  but 
rather  in  what  it  succeeds  in  getting  out  of  us. 
The  answer  to  the  question.  Is  life  worth  living, 
cannot  be  obtained  by  a  debit  and  credit  account 


IX        AN  IMPORTUNATE  GENTILE     103 

of  pain  and  pleasure,  the  interesting  and  the  un- 
interesting, it  is  obtained  by  an  estimate  of  the 
value  of  the  character  that  has  been  formed. 
Events  must  not  be  judged  by  what  they  are  in 
themselves,  but  by  the  eiFects  which  they  are  able 
to  produce.  The  world  is  a  school  rather  than  a 
stage,  and  life  is  an  education  rather  than  a  piece 
of  acting.  We  are  not  Bohemian  actors  who  can 
throw  up  an  engagement  if  the  part  we  are  cast 
for  is  not  to  our  liking,  but  we  are  scholars  who 
have  to  learn  our  lessons  and  pass  or  fail  in  our 
examinations.  It  is  the  after-life  which  justifies 
or  condemns  the  education  we  have  received  at 
school,  and  of  that  as  long  as  we  are  scholars  we 
have  no  means  of  judging.  Those  who  sent  us 
are  responsible,  and  we  must  trust  to  the  wisdom 
of  their  choice.  The  sooner  we  settle  down  to 
our  lessons,  and  leave  off  both  our  discussions  and 
our  grumbling,  the  better  it  will  be  for  us. 

The  interview  between  Christ  and  the  Syro- 
phcenician  woman  affords  a  striking  illustration 
of  the  higher  importance  Christ  attached  to  His 
power  to  teach  as  contrasted  with  the  more  sensa- 
tional power  which  He  possessed  of  working 
miracles.  His  philosophy  of  life  was  evidently 
based  upon  the  belief  that  what  could  be  drawn 
out  of  any  one  was  of  far  greater  value  than  what 
could  be  bestowed  upon  them.  His  treatment  of 
the  woman,  which  is  so  unlike  what  we  should 
have  anticipated,  must  be  judged  in  the  light  of 


I04  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    ix 

the  corresponding  fact  that  the  woman  is  herself 
totally  unlike  anything  we  should  have  expected. 
She  was  not  a  Jewess,  but  a  Gentile  by  birth,  yet 
her  character  is  that  of  a  devout  Israelite  rather 
than  that  of  an  unbelieving  Gentile.  Christ  is 
in  the  parts  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  outside  the  limits 
of  Jewish  territory,  yet,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Roman 
centurion,  so  in  that  of  this  woman.  He  finds 
more  faith  than  even  in  Israel.  Such  an  impres- 
sion did  His  contact  with  the  Gentile  world  pro- 
duce, that  in  His  subsequent  ministry  He  contrasts 
the  cities  in  which  the  greater  part  of  His  ministry 
was  spent  with  the  Tyre  and  Sidon  of  this  short 
and  apparently  only  journey  thither.  He  had 
probably  gone  over  the  border  to  seek  a  temporary 
retirement  from  the  strain  to  which  His  Galilean 
ministry  exposed  Him.  He  was  seeking  a  much- 
needed  rest,  and  across  the  border  was  a  foreign 
country  and  a  Gentile  people,  amongst  whom  He 
might  reasonably  expect  to  find  the  retirement  and 
rest  He  sought.  His  fame,  however,  had  preceded 
Him,  and  the  quiet  of  His  journey  was  disturbed 
by  a  cry  for  help  from  this  Syrophoenician  woman. 
She  had  a  little  daughter  in  her  home,  suffering 
from  one  of  those  mysterious  nervous  maladies 
which  were  associated  with  the  possession  of  a 
devil.  Her  life  was  clouded  by  this  great  sorrow. 
The  origin  of  the  disease  was  unknown,  and  after 
the  manner  of  her  people  and  her  time,  she  attri- 
buted it  to  some  malign  influence  whom  she  had 


IX       AN  IMPORTUNATE  GENTILE     105 

unwittingly  offended.  Though  the  nature  and 
the  cause  of  the  trouble  were  alike  unknown,  it 
was  the  great  shadow  in  her  home,  and  must  have 
had  its  influence  upon  her  character.  Day  by 
day  she  was  face  to  face  with  one  of  life's  insoluble 
enigmas.  Hour  by  hour  she  had  to  watch  the 
paroxysms  of  her  child,  and  feel  her  utter  help- 
lessness either  to  understand  or  to  relieve.  She 
must  again  and  again  have  asked  what  was  the 
meaning  of  it  all,  and  how  it  would  end,  yet  her 
mother's  heart  of  love  sustained  her,  and  her 
ministration  never  failed.  Vague  rumours  had 
probably  reached  her  of  the  wonder-worker  in 
Galilee,  and  of  the  cures  He  had  been  able  to 
effect.  But  Galilee  was  a  long  way  oif,  and  her 
child  demanded  all  her  attention.  At  length 
report  was  brought  that  the  Great  Healer  had 
crossed  the  border,  entered  her  own  district,  and 
was  passing  within  a  short  distance  of  her  home. 
Here  was  the  opportunity  of  a  lifetime,  and  she 
started  off  full  of  hope  to  obtain  the  help  for 
herself  and  her  child  of  which  she  stood  so  much 
in  need.  She  meets  Him  as  He  passes  along  sur- 
rounded with  His  disciples,  and  cries  out,  "  Sir, 
Son  of  David,  pity  me  ;  my  daughter  is  cruelly 
harassed  with  a  devil." 

The  Messianic  title  by  which  she  addresses 
Him  is  one  which  she  has  picked  up,  and  she 
probably  thinks  that  its  use  will  be  more  likely 
to  make  Him  take  notice  of  her  and  be  favourable 


io6  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    ix 

to  her  request.  She  was  unfortunate,  however, 
in  her  choice.  Christ  has  just  left  Galilee,  where 
day  by  day  the  same  cry  has  resounded  in  His 
ears,  and  the  same  appeal  to  work  a  marvel  has 
met  Him  at  every  place  He  has  visited.  He  had 
given  the  Galileans  His  best  both  of  teaching  and 
working,  but  the  response  He  longed  for  has  not 
been  forthcoming.  They  would  call  Him  by  the 
Messianic  title  if  they  could  get  anything  out  of 
Him,  but  they  would  not  respond  to  the  higher 
life  and  the  spiritual  truth  He  had  to  offer  them. 
He  had  therefore  withdrawn  from  their  midst, 
that  the  mere  wonders  which  they  demanded  to 
see  might  be  kept  in  the  background,  and  the 
teaching  He  had  imparted  might  have  a  chance 
of  influencing  them.  He  had  made  use  of  the 
material  to  illustrate  the  spiritual,  and  found  that 
they  were  too  interested  in  the  pictures  to  attend 
to  the  lesson.  He  had  given  them  the  best  that 
was  in  Him,  that  He  might  draw  out  the  best 
that  was  in  them,  and  He  found  that  they  took 
all  and  gave  nothing.  Here,  in  the  retirement 
He  sought,  the  same  cry  for  the  miraculous  meets 
Him  again.  The  same  demand  for  the  marvellous 
is  made  to  Him,  the  same  title  is  addressed  to 
Him.  He  has  disregarded  it  in  Galilee,  He  has 
withdrawn  to  avoid  it,  and  when  He  meets  it 
here.  He  answers  it  with  silence.  He  is  no  mere 
wonder-worker,  He  is  a  teacher,  and  to  draw  out 
the  best  that  is  in  men  is,  in  His  view  of  life,  of 


IX       AN  IMPORTUNATE  GENTILE     107 

greater  value  than  to  grant  the  relief  they  are  so 
ready  to  demand. 

The  woman's  sense  of  helplessness,  however,  is 
too  keen  to  take  silence  for  refusal,  and  she 
follows  Him  with  that  persistence  and  impor- 
tunity characteristic  of  the  Eastern  nature.  The 
disciples,  who  are  aware  of  the  object  of  their 
journey,  remind  Him  that  the  woman  is  defeat- 
ing His  purpose  by  exciting  that  very  attention 
He  sought  to  avoid,  and  suggest  that  He  should 
send  her  away.  Her  monotonous  cry  is  like  the 
bleating  of  some  ewe  who  has  lost  her  lamb,  and 
suggests  the  metaphor  Christ  uses  in  His  reply. 
Turning  to  the  woman  He  answers,  "  I  have  no 
commission  save  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house 
of  Israel."  It  is  a  reply  called  forth  by  the 
Messianic  title  she  has  used,  and  is  intended  to 
call  her  attention  to  the  meaning  of  the  words 
she  has  caught  up  and  is  using  without  realising 
their  significance.  If  He  is,  as  she  says,  the 
Jewish  Messiah,  He  has  no  commission  for  Tyre 
and  Sidon,  and  she  has  no  claim  upon  His 
assistance.  Her  prayer  is  the  expression  of  a 
real  need,  but  her  words  are  meaningless.  She 
has  asked  for  a  simple  boon,  He  has  a  richer 
blessing  in  store  for  her.  She  wants  help  for 
her  daughter,  He  has  something  for  herself  as 
well. 

She  is  quick  to  understand  that  she  has  made 
some  mistake  in  the  form  of  the  request  she  has 


io8  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     ix 

preferred,  but  she  reads  His  face  too  accurately 
to  mistake  delay  for  dismissal.  She  falls  at  His 
feet,  and  it  is  the  natural  woman  who  utters  the 
simple  but  all-powerful  prayer,  *'Sir,  help  me." 
She  has  dropped  all  meaningless  titles,  and  all 
unnecessary  expressions.  She  is  helpless,  He  is 
the  Helper  ;  she  is  poor,  He  is  rich.  She  knows 
nothing  about  His  commission,  she  is  ignorant 
of  the  meaning  of  His  title,  but  she  recognises 
a  heart  of  compassion,  and  to  that  she  makes  her 
appeal. 

Christ's  heart  is  touched  by  the  woman's 
naturalness  and  sincerity.  He  sees  the  mother- 
heart,  with  its  yearning  desire  for  some  help  for 
the  little  sufferer  at  home,  and  His  compassion 
is  stirred.  Here  is  some  one  very  different  from 
the  mere  seeker  after  a  sign,  here  is  something 
deeper  than  the  mere  desire  for  the  marvellous. 
There  is  a  half-playful  smile  on  His  face,  but  the 
eyes  are  wells  of  compassion  as  He  answers,  "  It 
is  not  allowable  to  take  the  bread  from  the 
children,  and  throw  it  to  the  dogs  on  the  floor." 
He  is  speaking  to  a  mother  who  is  accustomed  to 
give  little  delicacies  to  her  sick  child,  and  who  can 
therefore  appreciate  the  simile.  Her  mother's 
heart  will  fasten  upon  the  children  whose  bread 
is  to  be  taken  away,  not  on  the  dogs  who  are 
waiting  round  the  table.  She  will  institute  no 
comparison  of  contempt,  nor  take  umbrage  at  the 
reference    to  dogs.      Hers    is    a    nature   which  is 


IX       AN  IMPORTUNATE  GENTILE     109 

quick  to  respond,  a  mind  which  it  is  a  pleasure  to 
draw  out. 

Even  Christ  Himself  is  astonished  at  her  reply. 
The  vein  of  ore  which  He  perceived  is  richer  than 
even  He  supposed.  He  has  appealed  to  her 
mother-heart  as  to  whether  the  boon  which  she 
asks  for  her  child  can  be  fairly  given,  and  with 
the  quick  wit  of  a  keen  mind,  and  the  accurate 
vibration  of  a  sympathetic  spirit,  she  responds 
with  an  answer  which  secured  the  admiration  of 
Christ,  and  the  applause  of  the  world.  "True, 
Sir,  it  is  not  allowable,  as  you  say  ;  still,  help  me, 
for  even  the  dogs  eat  the  scraps  which  fall  from 
their  masters'  table."  He  may  be  the  Jewish 
Messiah,  as  she  has  heard.  His  commission  may 
be  only  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel, 
it  may  not  be  right  to  deprive  the  children  of 
their  bread,  but  she  sees  a  wider  sympathy  than 
that  of  race  in  the  eyes  which  look  into  hers,  and 
a  wealth  of  power  more  than  sufficient  for  Israel's 
needs  in  the  hands  which  hover  in  blessing  above 
her  head  as  she  kneels  at  His  feet.  There  are 
crumbs  which  fall  from  the  bountiful  table  He 
has  spread,  and  one  is  sufficient  for  her  need. 

Her  education  has  been  completed,  and  He 
has  brought  out  of  her  a  treasure  which  has 
surprised  even  Himself.  The  discipline  of  life 
has  matured  a  character  which  is  worth  all  that 
has  been  spent  on  its  education.  Those  days  of 
anxiety  and  those  nights  of  watching  by  the  bed- 


no    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  ix 

side  of  her  suffering  child  have  not  been  meaning- 
Jess,  any  more  than  the  silence  and  reluctance 
with  which  Christ  greeted  her  appeal  for  help 
have  been  fruitless.  The  spirit  which  the  former 
has  evoked  is  as  rich  and  precious  as  the  saying 
which  the  latter  has  called  forth.  The  trial  of 
her  life  has  fulfilled  its  purpose,  and  the  time 
for  its  removal  has  arrived.  The  silence  and 
reluctance  have  called  forth  this  wonderful  saying 
of  hers,  and  the  time  for  granting  her  request  has 
come.  "  For  the  sake  of  that  saying,"  He 
answers,  "  you  can  go  home,  the  demon  has  gone 
out  of  your  child." 

"  For  the  sake  of  that  saying."  Yes,  it  was 
worth  coming  into  the  regions  of  Tyre  and  Sidon. 
To  have  evoked  it  was  worth  the  silence  and  the 
feigned  reluctance  in  granting  her  request.  She 
was  herself  the  richer  for  it,  and  she  has  enriched 
the  world  with  it.  And  yet,  but  for  the  silence 
and  the  reluctance  she  would  never  have  brought 
forth  the  best  that  was  in  her.  So  with  that 
apparently  useless  and  unintelligible  trial  to  which 
she  had  been  subjected.  It  had,  after  all,  made  her 
the  woman  she  was.  The  saying  had  but  revealed 
the  fact.  For  the  sake  of  that  thought^  for  the 
sake  of  that  sentiment^  for  the  sake  of  that  spirit^ 
how  much  may  be  endured,  and  how  long  it  may 
be  worth  our  while  to  wait.  The  experience  of 
life  must  be  judged  not  by  the  terms  in  which 
it  may  be  accurately  described,  but  by  the  very 


IX       AN  IMPORTUNATE  GENTILE     iii 

different  terms  in  which  it  must  be  summed  up. 
Failure  may  accurately  describe  a  man's  actions, 
while  success  is  the  true  summing  up  of  his  life. 
The  travail  of  a  soul  may  characterise  a  life 
history,  while  the  birth  of  a  hero  may  be  the 
truer  appreciation  of  the  result.  Life  must  not  be 
judged  by  its  Lent,  but  by  its  Easter. 


AN     UNEXPECTED    DAY    OF    JUDGMENT 
John  viii.  2-11. 

Chastity  is  a  divinity  whom  men  admire,  but 
whom  women  worship.  Her  admirers  secure 
respect,  but  her  worshippers  reverence.  The 
violation  of  her  shrine  on  the  part  of  man  is 
robbery,  on  the  part  of  woman  it  is  sacrilege.  In 
strict  equity  there  is  no  difference  between  the 
two ;  in  the  domain  of  sentiment,  however,  robbery 
is  more  venial  than  sacrilege.  The  difference  in 
the  sentiment  felt  is  due  to  the  reflex  action  of 
the  feeling  inspired.  The  man's  attitude  never 
produces  a  deeper  impression  than  that  of  sincere 
appreciation,  the  woman's  instinctively  reminds  us 
of  the  holy  reverence  of  a  devotee.  Chastity  in  a 
woman  evokes  a  deeper  feeling,  and  as  the  result 
unchastity  calls  forth  a  deeper  resentment.  The 
higher  the  position  the  deeper  the  fall.  While 
this  is  probably  the  explanation  of  the  feeling  with 
which  a  woman's  fall  is  regarded,  it  is  no  justifica- 
tion for  the  unequal  treatment  which  is  meted  out. 

112 


X  A  DAY  OF  JUDGMENT  113 

The  sin  in  woman  is  more  often   due  to  frailty 
than  to  positive  vice,  to  a  weak  will   than  to  a 
strong  passion.     In  the  man  it  is  the  result  of  a 
vicious    disposition,    the    effect    of    an    unbridled 
passion.     Society,  however,  invariably  brings  the 
woman  to  the  judgment  bar,  and  allows  the  man 
to  go   free.     At  frailty  and  weakness  it  is  ever 
ready  to   cast  the  stone,  while  it  allows  brutality 
and  vice  to  pass  along  with  unblushing  effrontery. 
It  treats  shame  with  contempt,  but  impudence  with 
respect.     It  forgets  that  the  woman's  fall  is  always 
the  result  of  the  man's  failure.     If  manhood  were 
never  debased,  womanhood  would  never  be  dis- 
graced.    Yet  the  debased  man  is  tolerated,  while 
the    disgraced    woman    is   reprobated.      There    is 
immunity  for  the  one,  but   not   even  forgiveness 
for   the    other.       The    man    who    has    failed    can 
compound   with   his   creditors,  the  woman  whose 
fall  is  the  result  of  his  failure  is  ruined  for  life. 
The  man's  failure  is  unfortunate,  but  the  woman's 
fall  is  criminal.     Society  will  not  order  even  the 
prosecution  of  the  one,  but  it  will  strictly  enjoin 
and  eagerly  participate  in  the  bitterest  persecution 
of  the  other.     It  may  shake  its  head  in   a  half 
playful  disapproval  of  the  man,  but  it  will  never- 
theless receive  him  at  its  house,  and  even  marry 
him  to  its  daughters.     For  the  woman,  however, 
it  reserves  the  name  of  sinner,  and  her  it  religiously 
outcasts. 

Society  is  well  represented  in  the  select  company 


114    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     x 

of  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  who  in  resentment  at  a 
flagrant  breach  of  the  moral  code,  invaded  the 
sacred  precincts  of  the  Temple,  and  interrupted 
Christ  in  His  discourse.  The  manifestation  of 
their  own  righteous  indignation  at  this  breach  of 
the  Law,  overrides  all  considerations  against  the 
publication  of  the  woman's  shame,  and  the  in- 
terruption of  the  Teacher's  discourse.  The 
vindication  of  the  law  must  take  precedence  over 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  They  have  such  a 
keen  sense  of  decorum,  that  they  have  none  left 
for  delicacy.  They  are  so  conscious  of  their  own 
correctness  of  behaviour,  that  they  are  oblivious  of 
the  outrage  they  are  committing  against  decency. 

While  this  is  their  attitude  with  regard  to  the 
woman  and  her  sin,  they  are  inspired  with  a  very 
different  motive  in  bringing  her  into  the  presence 
of  Christ.  Like  Society  they  have  often  been 
stung  by  the  preacher's  denunciation  of  their 
hypocrisy,  and  now  they  rejoice  in  the  opportunity 
of  paying  off  old  scores.  Here  is  a  lost  sheep 
who  has  strayed  into  their  fold,  and  whom  after 
it  has  suffered  the  penalty  of  over-confidence,  they 
are  able  to  drag  back  with  torn  and  bemired  fleece 
to  Him  who  calls  Himself  the  Good  Shepherd. 
How  will  the  popular  preacher,  who  deals  in 
anecdotes  and  delights  in  allegory,  treat  a  concrete 
case  of  flagrant  sin  ?  Parables  may  be  pretty 
stories,  but  adultery  is  an  ugly  fact.  It  is  all  very 
well  to  pose  as  the  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners, 


X  A  DAY  OF  JUDGMENT  115 

but  what  becomes  of  the  follower  of  Moses  ? 
They  have  caught  one  of  His  congregation  red- 
handed,  and  they  mean  to  make  the  most  of  it. 

With  an  utter  disregard  for  the  woman's 
feelings  they  force  her  into  the  centre  of  the 
Temple  court,  and  with  brutal  coarseness  they 
state  the  case.  "  Rabbi,  this  woman  has  committed 
adultery  and  been  caught  in  the  very  act.  Now 
in  the  Law,  Moses  commanded  us  to  stone  such  to 
death.  But  what  do  you  say?"  The  form  of  the 
question  has  been  well  thought  out,  the  best  mode 
of  putting  it  has  been  well  considered.  They 
address  Him  by  the  title  of  Rabbi,  because  they 
wish  to  compel  Him  to  expound  the  Law,  not  to 
speak  in  parables.  They  represent  themselves  as 
in  a  difficulty.  They  suggest  an  antithesis  between 
His  teaching  and  that  of  the  Law.  They  even 
pose  as  Counsel  for  the  defence,  making  an  appeal 
to  a  higher  tribunal.  With  that  cunning  which  so 
often  overreaches  itself,  they  fail  to  see  that  in 
exposing  the  woman's  shame,  they  have  exposed 
their  own  shamelessness.  If  the  woman  was 
caught  red-handed,  where  is  the  partner  of  her 
guilt  ^  If  they  have  such  reverence  for  the  Law, 
why  do  they  omit  its  equal  condemnation  of  the 
man  ?  If  they  feel  compelled  to  carry  out  the 
Law  to  the  letter,  why  are  they  screening  the 
principal  offender  ?  If  they  hesitate  to  expose  the 
woman  to  the  shower  of  stones,  why  do  they 
expose  her  to  the  gaze  of  a  heartless  crowd  ?     If 


ii6    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    x 

they  feel  that  the  execution  of  the  sentence  is 
committed  into  their  hands,  why  do  they  seek  to 
throw  the  responsibility  on  to  another's  shoulders  ? 
"  Jesus  stooped  down  and  began  to  write  with 
His  finger  on  the  ground.''  There  are  some  faces 
from  which  one  instinctively  turns  away.  The 
smirk  of  self-complacency,  the  stony  stare  of  empty 
pride,  the  cruel  smile  of  exultation  which  the 
vindictive  nature  so  readily  assumes,  are  sights  at 
which  a  glance  is  more  than  sufficient.  Similarly 
there  are  faces  so  overwhelmed  with  shame,  and 
eyes  that  are  so  piteous  in  their  entreaty  not  to  be 
looked  into,  that  instinctively  we  drop  our  head  as 
in  the  presence  of  something  so  sacred,  that  the 
ordinary  look  secularises,  while  the  common  gaze 
profanes.  From  the  faces  of  the  Scribes  and 
Pharisees  Christ  turned  with  loathing  ;  before  the 
agonised  appeal  in  the  woman's  eyes.  His  own 
dropped  with  the  sympathy  of  a  great  compassion. 
"  He  began  to  write  with  His  finger  on  the 
ground."  There  are  some  subjects  upon  which 
comment  is  an  indecency,  and  discussion  an  outrage 
on  good  taste.  There  are  some  sins,  the  record 
of  which  should  be  written  in  the  sand,  that  the 
incoming  tide  of  repentence  may  obliterate  the 
memory.  The  case,  if  it  be  heard  at  all,  must  be 
heard  in  camera.  The  records,  if  they  are  made 
at  all,  should  be  written  in  the  sand.  These 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  have  already  turned  the 
Temple  into  a  market.  He  will  have  nothing  to 


X  A  DAY  OF  JUDGMENT  117 

do  with  converting  it  into  a  Divorce  Court.  It  is 
a  house  of  prayer  where  the  penitent  may  appeal 
for  mercy  and  forgiveness,  not  a  Court  of  Justice 
where  the  criminal  receives  judgment. 

The  Scribes  and  Pharisees  are  too  confident  of 
victory  to  take  advantage  of  the  safe  retreat  from 
an  untenable  position  which  Christ  thus  gener- 
ously offers  them.  They  are  too  elated  at  what 
they  consider  His  confusion  to  consider  their  own 
possible  discomfiture.  From  His  reticence  they 
conclude  He  is  silenced  ;  from  His  bowed  head 
they  infer  an  attempt  to  conceal  His  nervousness. 
Impatient  cries  of  "Answer,  answer,"  resound 
through  the  court.  Christ  rises,  and  with  calm 
dignity  confronts  the  accusers  of  the  woman. 
In  place  of  the  confusion  they  expected  to  see  on 
His  face,  there  is  a  look  before  which  their  own 
eyes  fall,  and  the  awe  of  a  great  silence  reigns 
throughout  the  Temple.  "  Let  the  man  who  is 
without  sin  among  you  be  the  first  to  throw  a 
stone  at  her,"  Christ  replies,  and  again  stooping 
down  He  writes  upon  the  ground. 

The  anticipation  had  silenced  them.  His  reply 
strikes  them  dumb.  They  had  demanded  sentence 
upon  the  woman,  they  listen  to  their  own  con- 
demnation. They  had  quoted  the  words  of 
Moses,  they  hear  the  voice  of  God.  This  is  no 
opinion  of  a  Rabbi,  which  can  be  questioned  and 
discussed  ;  it  is  the  judgment  of  their  own 
conscience,  from  which  there  is  no  appeal.     The 


ii8    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    x 

Temple  is  all  at  once  full  of  ghosts,  in  the  awful 
shapes  which  memory  suddenly  summons  from 
the  dead  past.  They  recognise  long -forgotten 
sins,  the  companions  of  earlier  days,  which  they 
thought  were  dead  and  buried  in  oblivion.  As 
their  past  rises  before  them  with  a  vividness  which 
terrifies  them,  the  present  scene,  with  the  woman, 
and  Rabbi,  and  waiting  crowd,  disappear  as  with 
the  wave  of  a  magician's  rod.  Each  is  so  self- 
conscious  that  he  forgets  the  others,  and  one  by 
one  they  retreat  in  awe  before  the  day  of  judg- 
ment which  they  have  evoked. 

Christ's  answer  is  as  remarkable  for  what  it 
omits  as  for  what  it  contains,  for  the  feeling  He 
suppresses  as  for  the  sentiment  He  expresses. 
There  is  no  sarcasm,  there  is  no  stern  denuncia- 
tion of  their  hypocrisy,  there  is  no  stinging 
reproach  for  their  cowardice.  He  omits  all 
reference  to  their  treatment  of  the  woman,  and 
their  attitude  to  Himself.  He  contents  Himself 
with  making  their  own  conscience  articulate,  with 
confronting  them  with  their  own  judgment  on 
themselves.  Having  uttered  a  sentence  He  does 
not  spoil  it  with  a  look.  He  stoops  down  and 
with  His  finger  marks  time  on  the  ground.  From 
the  grave  He  had  summoned  faces  which  con- 
veyed a  deeper  reproach  than  even  He  could 
express.  He  had  caused  them  to  hear  voices  of 
a  long-forgotten  past,  which  uttered  a  more  awful 
denunciation  than  even  He  could  give  voice  to. 


X  A  DAY  OF  JUDGMENT  119 

He  knew  when  to  speak,  but  He  also  knew  when 
to  keep  silence.  He  knew  when  to  look,  but  He 
knew  also  when  not  to  look. 

The  echo  of  the  last  footstep  of  the  accuser 
has  died  away,  and  a  quiet  stillness  reigns 
throughout  the  Temple.  Jesus  was  left  alone, 
and  the  woman  stands  where  she  has  been  placed, 
in  the  centre  of  the  court.  What  feelings  are 
passing  through  her  breast  it  is  impossible  to 
know.  Her  accusers  have  all  gone,  but  the 
accusation  remains.  Her  guards  have  all  dis- 
appeared, but  her  conscience  keeps  her  a  close 
prisoner.  The  jury  has  been  dismissed  as  dis- 
qualified, but  the  Judge  still  retains  His  seat. 
His  jurisdiction,  which  others  might  dispute,  is 
with  her  unquestioned.  If  she  could  but  see  His 
face,  she  might  perhaps  anticipate  her  fate,  but  it 
is  still  bent  upon  the  ground.  If  He  would  but 
speak,  the  tones  of  His  voice  might  enable  her  to 
guess  at  the  thoughts  of  His  mind,  but  He  is  still 
writing  on  the  ground. 

At  length  the  head  is  raised,  the  writing  ceases, 
and  as  Christ  rises,  the  woman's  eyes  drop  in 
confusion  and  shame.  There  is  no  contempt  in 
the  voice  nor  harshness  in  the  tones  which  greet 
her  expectant  ear.  It  is  not  the  sentence  of  the 
judge,  but  the  question  of  a  friend  which  is 
addressed  to  her.  "  Woman,  where  are  they  ? 
Has  no  one  passed  sentence  upon  you  ? "  The 
title  by  which  He  addresses  her  is  one  of  respect, 


I20    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    x 

not  of  contempt.  It  is  the  same  by  which  He 
speaks  to  His  own  mother,  and  would  perhaps  be 
better  rendered  as  Lady  or  Madam.  He  is 
anxious  to  evoke  her  own  self-respect,  to  appeal 
to  her  true  womanhood,  to  remind  her  that  she 
is  the  mistress  of  a  home,  and  bears  the  honoured 
name  of  wife.  The  question  is  asked  not  for  His 
own  information,  but  that  she  may  realise  the 
deliverance  she  has  experienced.  The  surprise 
in  the  question  is  not  meant  to  condone  her 
oiFence,  but  is  intended  to  arouse  wonder  and 
gratitude  at  her  escape.  Standing  as  she  does 
self-condemned  at  the  bar  of  her  own  conscience, 
she  has  yet  escaped  the  hand  of  the  executioner. 
Was  there  no  hand  clean  enough  to  cast  the 
first  stone  ?  Was  her  escape  due  to  the  guilt  of 
others  instead  of  to  her  own  innocence  ^ 

A  host  of  conflicting  passions  must  have  swept 
across  her  breast  since  she  first  entered  the 
precincts  of  the  Temple  court.  Fierce  indigna- 
tion at  her  public  disgrace,  unutterable  self- 
loathing  at  the  consciousness  of  her  sin,  and  an 
agony  of  shame  at  the  position  she  occupied, 
must  all  have  alternated  during  the  time  she  stood 
the  cynosure  of  all  eyes.  The  accusation  of  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  has  called  forth  no  protesta- 
tion of  innocence,  nor  confession  of  guilt.  She 
has  neither  denounced  her  betrayer  and  forsaker, 
nor  pleaded  anything  in  extenuation  of  her  guilt. 
She    has    maintained    an    absolute   silence.       The 


X  A  DAY  OF  JUDGMENT  121 

gentle  tones,  however,  and  the  kindly  voice  unseal 
her  lips,  and  she  answers,.  "  No  one,  Lord."  She 
has  heard  Him  called  Rabbi  by  her  accusers, 
but  to  her  He  is  Lord.  She  waits  to  hear,  not 
what  sentence  He  will  pronounce,  for  the  tones 
are  not  those  of  a  judge,  but  what  command  He 
will  lay  upon  her.  Henceforth  He  is  her  Lord 
and  Master,  and  she  is  His  slave.  She  is  the 
captive  of  a  great  compassion,  the  bondslave  of  a 
Divine  mercy. 

Christ  is  quick  to  catch  her  meaning  and 
respond  to  her  request.  The  seed  of  loyalty  has 
already  taken  root,  she  has  already  bowed  to  the 
sentence  which  her  own  conscience  has  pronounced 
upon  her  ;  the  stones  of  self-reproach  are  fall- 
ing thick  and  fast  upon  the  false  self  which  has 
hitherto  directed  her  life.  "  Neither  do  I  pass 
sentence,"  He  answers  ;  "  Go  and  sin  no  more." 

The  authority  for  this  incident  is  not  to  be 
found  by  consulting  ancient  manuscripts,  it  bears 
its  own  mark  of  genuineness.  From  whatever 
source  it  was  derived,  however  it  came  into  its 
present  position  in  the  Gospel  of  John,  it  is  too 
lifelike  to  be  fictitious.  One  and  One  only  could 
have  been  the  author  of  the  fact,  whoever  may  be 
the  author  of  the  record.  It  has  established  a 
place  for  itself  in  the  Church's  conception  of 
Christ  which  nothing  can  affect.  The  Church 
could  never  have  invented  it,  but  having  once 
heard  it,  it  could  never  forget  it. 


XI 

A    DEGENERATE     ARISTOCRACY 
John  viii.  31-59. 

Of  all  the  possessions  which  great  men  leave  to 
their  descendants,  their  name  is  the  most  doubtful 
legacy.  Their  estate  can  be  enjoyed  and  possessed, 
but  their  title  can  only  be  assumed,  and  the  as- 
sumption is  rarely  justified.  Great  names  are 
always  made,  they  can  never  be  really  inherited. 
They  arc  priceless  to  the  real  owner,  but  worthless 
to  the  mere  bearer.  They  are  promissory  notes 
given  for  value  received,  and  are  not  transferable. 
They  are  payable  to  order  and  not  to  bearer  on 
demand,  but  are  not  negotiable.  Their  possession 
calls  forth  respect  on  the  part  of  the  owner,  their 
assumption  more  often  begets  mere  empty  pride 
on  the  part  of  the  descendants.  It  is  not  mere 
breeding  or  mere  manners  which  mark  the  gentle- 
man, but  good  breeding  and  good  manners.  It  is 
not  the  possession  of  a  great  name,  but  the  pos- 
session of  a  great  nature  which  marks  the  true 
aristocracy.     Pride  of  birth  is  pitiful  to  see,  when 

122 


XI     A  DEGENERATE  ARISTOCRACY    123 

it  is  the  birth  alone,  and  not  the  character,  of 
which  a  man  has  cause  to  be  proud.  If  the  man 
fails  to  win  our  reverence,  his  pedigree  fails  to 
command  our  respect.  If  the  line  has  been  a 
descent,  the  lineage  betokens  a  fall. 

While  high  birth  in  itself  secures  no  privileges 
in  the  republic  of  Nature,  it  confers  advantages 
and  imposes  obligations.  Men  are  born  to  the 
positions  they  really  occupy,  and  the  estate  to 
which  they  actually  succeed  is  heavily  mortgaged 
with  duties.  Rank  has  its  advantages,  but  it  has 
also  its  very  definite  obligations.  The  advantages 
which  birth  secures  are  never  mere  arbitrary  gifts, 
they  are  in  strict  proportion  to  the  endowments 
conferred.  The  accident  of  birth  is  an  expression 
which  reveals  a  very  superficial  observation  and  a 
very  shallow  thought.  There  may  be  something 
accidental  in  a  man's  occupation  of  a  position,  but 
there  is  none  in  his  birth.  His  social  position 
may  be  arbitrarily  fixed  by  custom,  but  his  real 
position  is  definitely  fixed  by  Nature.  Society 
may  attach  privileges  to  his  connection  with  the 
past.  Nature  demands  the  discharge  of  duties.  She 
pays  her  tribute  by  conferring  advantages,  but  she 
demands  a  just  equivalent.  She  takes  no  notice 
of  name  and  title,  but  much  of  character  and  en- 
dowment. From  him  to  whom  she  has  given 
little  she  demands  little,  but  from  him  to  whom 
she  has  given  much  she  demands  much.  The 
title-deeds  which  she  will  alone  recognise  are  the 


124    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xi 

attainments  she  has  herself  transmitted.  She 
regards  all  claims  to  position  unsupported  by 
these  as  pretensions  which  expose  the  claimant  to 
contempt  and  ridicule.  At  the  same  time  she  is 
strict  to  demand  the  just  payment  of  her  dues 
from  those  upon  whom  she  has  conferred  her 
advantages,  and  she  will  denounce  as  a  defaulter 
the  man  who  takes  her  gifts  but  holds  back  her 
tribute. 

The  difference  between  a  true  nobility  and  a 
mere  titled  aristocracy  is  well  illustrated  in  the 
remarkable  interview  between  Jesus  and  the  de- 
scendants of  Abraham  recorded  in  the  Gospel  of 
John.  A  little  of  the  blue  blood  upon  which  they 
prided  themselves  was  apparently  flowing  in  the 
veins  of  this  remnant,  who  are  described  as  the 
believing  Jews  who  had  been  impressed  by  the 
teaching  and  attracted  by  the  personality  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth.  There  was  perhaps  a  slight  trace  of 
that  dissatisfaction  with  the  actual,  and  desire  for 
the  ideal,  which  distinguishes  Abraham  while  he 
still  resided  with  Terah  his  father,  in  Ur  of  the 
Chaldees,  and  which  later  ripened  into  that  faith 
in  the  Unknown  which  sent  him  forth  on  his  quest 
of  the  ideal.  These  men  were  impressed  but  not 
convinced,  interested  but  not  attached.  The 
teaching  of  this  new  Prophet  of  Galilee  was  some- 
thing they  liked  to  listen  to,  but  they  had  no 
thoughts  of  accepting  it.  The  truth  had  aroused 
them   from  sleep,  it  had  not  yet  delivered  them 


XI     A  DEGENERATE  ARISTOCRACY   125 

from  the  prison-house.  Their  eyes  were  open, 
but  they  had  not  as  yet  perceived  their  chains. 
Dissatisfaction  must  deepen  into  a  loathing  of  the 
actual,  their  desire  must  ripen  into  a  passion  for 
the  ideal  if  they  were  to  obtain  the  promised  in- 
heritance. They  must  do  more  than  merely  see 
the  ideal,  they  must  seize  it ;  they  must  do  more 
than  merely  admire  the  truth,  they  must  submit 
to  it,  or  the  promised  land  of  freedom  and  peace 
would  never  be  theirs.  Like  Abraham  they  must 
no  longer  abide  in  Chaldea,  they  must  settle  in 
Canaan.  Looking  upon  these  descendants  of  a 
noble  house  Christ  calls  for  that  whole-hearted 
devotion  of  which  their  forefather  had  given  them 
so  perfect  an  illustration.  "  If  you  abide  in  My 
teaching,'*  He  says,  "  then  are  you  My  disciples 
indeed  ;  and  you  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the 
truth  shall  make  you  freemen.'' 

The  call  to  a  nobler  life,  however,  finds  no 
response  within  their  breasts.  Their  descent  has 
been  a  degeneration,  their  lineage  has  been  a 
decline.  They  are  too  proud  of  their  pedigree  to 
seek  to  earn  a  patent  of  nobility.  They  are  too 
unconscious  of  their  slavery  to  be  stirred  by  the 
call  to  freedom.  "  Disciples  !  Freemen  ! "  they  ex- 
claim in  contempt ;  "we  are  descendants  of  Abra- 
ham, and  the  yoke  of  bondage  has  never  been  on 
our  necks.  What  do  you  mean  by  saying  we  shall 
be  freemen .?  "  They  have  the  empty  pride  of  the 
aristocrat,  not  the  self-respect  of  the  true  noble- 


126    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xi 

man.  They  are  extremely  sensitive  as  to  the 
name  they  bear,  they  are  indifferent  as  to  the  rags 
they  wear.  They  are  so  mindful  of  their  descent 
from  Abraham,  that  they  forget  their  bondage  to 
Rome  ;  so  conversant  with  their  genealogy  that 
they  are  ignorant  of  their  history.  The  position 
to  which  they  feel  themselves  entitled  makes  them 
oblivious  of  the  position  they  occupy.  Pride  in 
the  fact  of  their  long  descent  leads  them  unblush- 
ingly  to  declare  that  they  have  never  been  in 
bondage  to  any  one. 

There  is  a  sensitiveness  which  is  the  stamp  of 
true  nobility,  and  there  is  a  touchiness  which  is 
the  mark  of  a  vulgar  mind.  The  hint  which  the 
one  will  respect,  the  other  will  resent.  The  sug- 
gested help  which  the  one  will  gratefully  accept, 
the  other  will  reject  with  scorn.  Christ  had 
hinted  at  discipleship  and  suggested  freedom. 
Instead  of  nobility  He  had  encountered  vulgarity. 
His  suggestion  had  been  received  with  the  stony 
stare  of  astonishment.  His  hint  had  been  received 
with  the  contempt  of  an  empty  pride.  There  is 
accordingly  an  alteration  in  His  manner,  and  a 
different  tone  in  His  voice  as  He  replies  to  them. 
The  gentle  hint  and  the  kindly  suggestion  are  lost 
upon  these  degraded  scions  of  a  noble  house. 
They  need  the  plain  statement  of  actual  fact,  the 
solemn  warning  as  to  their  real  condition.  He 
must  point  to  the  rags  in  which  they  are  clothed, 
He  must   call  their  attention  to  the  chains  they 


XI     A  DEGENERATE  ARISTOCRACY    127 

wear.  "  I  most  solemnly  assure  you/'  He  replies, 
"  that  every  one  who  commits  sin  is  the  bondslave 
of  sin.  Ishmael  was  a  son  of  Abraham  as  much 
as  Isaac,  but  he  did  not  remain  in  his  father's 
house.  Your  pedigree  may  show  that  you  are 
children  of  Abraham,  but  your  position  shows  that 
you  are  no  longer  in  your  father's  house.  You 
have  sold  yourselves  into  captivity,  and  if  you  are 
to  be  freed  you  must  be  redeemed.  It  is  for  that 
purpose  that  the  Son  has  come,  and  if  He  sets  you 
free,  then  are  you  free  indeed.  It  may  be  true 
that  you  are  children  of  Abraham,  but  there  is  the 
hate  of  Ishmael  in  your  hearts.  Murder  even 
now  looks  out  of  your  eyes,  because  you  resent 
what  I  am  saying,  though  you  know  it  is  true. 
Yet  I  say  nothing  more  than  what  I  have  learned 
from  my  Father,  and  if  you  were  worthy  of  the 
name  you  bear,  you  would  believe  even  as  Abraham 
believed." 

Their  hot  resentment  has  died  down,  but  sullen 
anger  remains.  The  reference  to  their  poverty 
has  told,  but  their  pride  is  untouched.  The 
mention  of  their  forefather  they  take  notice  of, 
the  reference  to  his  character  they  ignore.  They 
cannot  deny  their  condition,  but  they  reassert  their 
title.     "  Our  father  is  Abraham." 

Christ  does  not  question  their  right  to  the 
name.  He  disputes  their  possession  of  the  nature 
of  Abraham.  **  If  you  were  children  of  Abraham, 
you    would    do    what    Abraham    did.     But   as   a 


128    CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xi 

matter  of  fact  you  are  seeking  for  an  opportunity 
to  kill  me,  whose  only  offence  is  that  I  have  told 
you  the  truth.  That  is  not  what  Abraham  did. 
The  deeds  which  you  do  are  those  of  your  real 
father,  whose  nature  you  have  inherited."  The 
character  we  possess  and  not  the  name  we  bear, 
the  kind  of  actions  we  perform  and  not  the  airs 
we  assume,  are  the  true  mark  of  our  descent. 
The  likeness  that  is  stamped  upon  our  face  and 
not  the  name  that  is  engraved  upon  our  card, 
is  the  true  witness  to  our  parentage.  The  look 
in  the  eye  is  a  truer  indication  of  the  nature  of  the 
man  than  the  smile  upon  his  face.  The  expression 
which  escapes  the  lips  under  the  excitement  of 
passion  is  a  surer  guide  by  which  to  judge  a  man's 
breeding  than  the  artificial  phrases  he  uses  in 
society.  There  was  murder  in  the  hearts  of  these 
men,  and  it  manifested  itself  in  the  looks  of  hate 
which  they  cast  upon  Him. 

The  flame  of  resentment  burst  up  in  their 
hearts,  and  they  retorted  with  fiercest  indignation. 
"We  are  not  bastards.  We  have  one  Father,  God." 
True  children  indeed  !  Did  He  think  they  were 
illegitimate  ?  If  it  was  religious  behef  He  referred 
to,  did  they  not  believe  in  the  One  God  of  their  fore- 
father Abraham  ?  Works  of  Abraham  forsooth  ! 
What  was  his  distinguishing  act  but  that  of  faith  in 
God  ?  They  too  believed  that  God  was  their 
Father,  and  could  claim  a  spiritual  descent  from 
God,  as  well  as  a  natural  descent  from  Abraham. 


XI     A  DEGENERATE  ARISTOCRACY  129 

The  spiritual  claim  had  less  to  sustain  it  than 
the  natural.  If  they  were  deficient  in  the  faith 
which  distinguished  Abraham,  they  were  destitute 
of  the  love  which  was  characteristic  of  God.  **  If 
God  were  indeed  your  Father,"  Christ  replies, 
"  you  would  give  evidence  of  it  in  the  love  you 
show  to  His  Son,  for  I  came  from  Him  and  have 
come  to  you.  I  have  not  come  on  My  own 
initiative,  but  it  was  He  who  sent  Me.  How  is 
it  that  you  will  not  understand  what  I  say  ?  It 
is  because  you  will  not  accept  what  I  tell  you." 
The  spiritual  claim  put  forth  by  men  with  murder 
in  their  hearts  was  blasphemy.  Their  attitude  to 
the  Son  showed  the  relation  in  which  they  stood 
to  the  Father.  The  black  hate  in  their  hearts 
betrayed  their  origin.  "  The  father  whose  sons 
you  are,"  He  continues,  ''  is  not  God  but  the 
Devil,  and  you  desire  to  do  what  will  please  him. 
He  was  a  murderer  from  the  beginning,  and  could 
not  stand  erect  in  the  truth,  for  there  is  no  truth 
in  him.  When  he  utters  a  lie  he  speaks  naturally, 
for  he  is  a  liar  and  the  propagator  of  lies."  The 
hate  in  their  heart  and  the  lie  on  their  lips  were 
unmistakable  evidence  of  their  true  parentage. 
Sons  of  God  in  a  sense  they  might  be,  even  as 
Cain  was  a  son  of  Adam,  but  their  hate  for  the 
true  Son,  like  that  of  Cain  for  Abel,  denied  their 
right  to  the  title.  In  their  hearts  was  the  same 
malice  which  he  bore  to  his  brother,  and  for  the 
same  reason:—- the  bitter  envy  of  a  jealous  mind. 

K 


I30  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     xi 

"  Because  I  speak  the  truth,"  Christ  continues, 
"  you  will  not  believe  Me.  Yet  which  of  you 
convicts  Me  of  sin  ?  If  I  speak  the  truth,  why  as 
children  of  Abraham  do  you  not  believe  Me  ? 
You  claim  God  as  your  Father  ;  but  the  child  of 
God  listens  to  the  Father's  words.  You,  however, 
will  not  listen,  and  the  reason  is  plain  ;  it  is 
because  you  are  not  what  you  claim  to  be,  true 
children  of  God." 

They  are  too  angry  and  exasperated  to  continue 
to  defend  their  claim  to  superiority  of  birth,  and 
betake  themselves  to  the  taunts  of  religious  pre- 
judice, and  the  abuse  of  petty  jealousy.  "Are 
we  not  right  in  saying  that  you  are  a  heretic  and 
a  madman  ?  "  Surely  no  one  but  an  heretical 
Samaritan  would  deny  their  descent  from  Abraham, 
and  no  one  but  a  madman  would  talk  such  utter 
nonsense.  Wrapping  around  them  the  tattered 
garment  of  their  pride  of  birth,  they  endeavour  to 
conceal  their  mortification  under  the  guise  of  a 
contemptuous  pity.  The  man  must  be  one  of 
the  outcast  Samaritans,  whose  ignorance  must  be 
excused  on  the  score  that  he  is  possessed  with  a 
devil. 

Christ  is  unruffled  by  either  the  contempt  or 
the  abuse.  There  is  the  consciousness  of  an  inner 
approval  which  no  outer  condemnation  can  touch, 
the  sense  of  a  Divine  commendation  which  no  abuse 
can  alter.  "I  am  not  mad,"  He  answers,  "but 
on  the  contrary  I  am  honouring  My  Father  by 


XI     A  DEGENERATE  ARISTOCRACY  131 

vindicating  His  character,  while  you  are  revealing 
your  true  descent  by  abusing  Me.  It  is  not  I, 
however,  who  am  seeking  any  glory  for  Myself ; 
there  is  One  who  is  seeking  it  for  Me,  and  He 
will  judge  both  of  your  relationship  to  Himself 
and  of  your  attitude  to  Me."  It  is  not  pride  of 
birth  or  glory  in  a  long  descent  which  distinguishes 
true  nobility.  It  is  in  actions  worthy  of  a  noble 
ancestry  that  the  honour  of  a  great  name  is  pre- 
served. It  is  not  the  glory  which  a  man  seeks 
for  himself  on  the  strength  of  high  birth,  but  the 
glory  which  comes  to  him  through  conduct  worthy 
of  his  noble  lineage,  which  stamps  him  as  a  true 
descendant  of  a  great  ancestor.  ''  I  most  solemnly 
assure  you,"  He  continues,  "  that  if  any  man 
gives  due  attention  to  My  instruction  he  shall 
never  die." 

Ignoring  His  reference  to  a  higher  kind  of  life, 
they  eagerly  lay  hold  of  the  reference  to  never 
dying,  as  a  confirmation  of  their  opinion  that  He 
is  mad.  "  Now,"  they  cry  out,  "  we  are  convinced 
that  you  are  mad.  Abraham  died,  and  so  did  the 
prophets,  and  yet  you  say  that  if  any  man  gives 
due  attention  to  your  teaching  he  shall  never  die. 
Are  you  greater  than  our  forefather  Abraham.? 
He  is  dead,  and  the  prophets  are  dead.  Who  do 
you  make  yourself  out  to  be  .f^"  Their  hatred  of 
the  man  excludes  all  consideration  of  His  message. 
They  are  so  eaten  up  with  pride  themselves,  that 
they  think  He  is  boasting.     They  are  so  conscious 


132  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    xi 

of  their  own  importance,  that  they  conclude  He 
is  equally  so. 

Christ  denies  the  petty  self-consciousness  attri- 
buted to  Him,  but  He  cannot  deny  true  knowledge 
of  Himself.  He  disclaims  any  self-glorification, 
but  He  cannot  repudiate  the  glory  which  the 
Father  has  given  Him.  The  glory  with  which  a 
man  seeks  to  cover  himself  is  tinsel,  but  the  glory 
which  comes  from  the  Divine  approval  is  pure 
gold,  which  nothing  but  a  false  humility  will  en- 
deavour to  hide.  "  Were  I  to  glorify  Myself," 
He  replies,  "  I  should  have  no  real  glory.  One 
there  is  who  glorifies  Me — My  Father,  the  very 
One  whom  you  claim  to  be  your  God.  You, 
however,  do  not  even  know  Him,  but  I  know 
Him  perfectly.  Were  I,  in  fact,  to  deny  My 
knowledge  of  Him,  I  should  be  a  liar  even  like 
yourselves,  for  my  professed  ignorance,  like  your 
professed  knowledge,  would  be  untrue.  On  the 
contrary  I  know  Him,  and  I  obey  His  commands 
in  making  Him  known.  As  for  your  forefather 
Abraham,  for  whom  you  profess  so  much  reverence, 
he  exulted  in  looking  forward  to  My  day.  More- 
over, far  from  being  dead,  he  has  seen  it  and 
rejoiced  at  the  sight." 

The  sublimity  of  the  thought  they  are  quite 
unable  to  perceive.  To  them  the  sublime  is  the 
ridiculous,  and  the  ridiculous  the  sublime.  The 
relationship  between  Christ  and  His  Father,  of 
which   He  is    conscious,   is   to    them    the  absurd 


XI     A  DEGENERATE  ARISTOCRACY   133 

assertion  of  a  madman,  and  excites  their  amuse- 
ment. The  ridiculous  claim  to  greatness  which 
they  put  forth  as  their  right  through  long 
descent,  is  to  them  the  dignified  assertion  of 
their  nobility.  "You  are  not  yet  fifty,*'  they 
exclaim  in  amusement,  "  and  have  you  seen 
Abraham  ?  "  They  have  such  little  insight,  that 
the  idea  of  Abraham's  foresight  never  occurs  to 
them. 

Christ  realises  that  the  plane  of  thought  in  their 
minds  is  entirely  different  from  His  own.  They 
are  concerned  with  the  material,  while  He  is 
speaking  of  the  spiritual ;  they  are  immersed  in  the 
temporal,  while  He  moves  in  the  eternities.  They 
need  to  be  startled  into  seriousness,  their  levity 
needs  to  be  replaced  by  solemnity.  They  will 
doubtless  not  believe,  but  at  least  they  must 
be  told  that  His  consciousness  extends  over  a 
longer  period  than  their  lineage,  that  His  life 
is  not  bounded  by  time,  but  is  an  ever-present 
now.  **  Before  Abraham  was  even  born,  I 
am." 

There  is  a  seriousness  in  the  tone  which  forbids 
ridicule  ;  there  is  a  meaning  in  the  words  which, 
though  too  deep  for  them  to  grasp,  is  too  clear  to 
be  mistaken.  This  is  not  madness,  it  is  blasphemy  ; 
it  is  not  heresy,  it  is  treason.  The  smouldering 
anger  which  His  denial  of  their  claim  to  true 
nobility  had  at  first  aroused,  bursts  forth  again  in 
fierce  resentment  at  the  audacity  of  this  claim  on 


134  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     xi 

His  part,  and  the  self-styled  aristocrats  betake 
themselves  to  the  weapons  of  the  vulgar  mob. 
The  exposure  is  complete  as  the  descendants  of 
Abraham  pick  up  stones  to  hurl  at  the  Messiah  of 
promise. 


XII 

THE    MAN    WHOSE    SUFFERING    ENNOBLED    HIM 
John  ix.  I -41. 

The  problem  of  suffering  ever  has  been,  and  as  far 
as  we  can  see  is  likely  to  remain,  the  great  enigma, 
whose  solution  is  for  ever  attempted  and  for  ever 
baffles  the  human  mind.  Sooner  or  later  the  cry, 
Check,  meets  us  as  we  try  to  move  our  king  into 
one  or  other  of  the  many  positions  which  seem  open 
to  us.  Each  move  of  the  king  only  seems  to  reveal 
some  opposition  piece  lying  in  wait,  until  we  give 
up  in  despair  and  confess  that  the  problem  which 
has  been  set  us  is  insoluble.  This  is  doubtless  true 
of  one  aspect  of  the  problem,  and  is  largely,  if  not 
entirely,  due  to  the  position  of  the  pieces  on  the 
board  when  we  attempt  the  solution.  We  have 
fixed  our  conception  of  the  character  of  God  on  the 
one  hand,  and  our  perception  of  the  nature  of 
suffering  on  the  other,  and  have  set  ourselves  the 
impossible  task  of  reconciling  opposites.  God 
is  essentially  beneficent,  suffering  is  essentially 
maleficent,  and  the  one  is  the  negative  of  the  other. 

135 


136  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    xii 

The  problem  in  the  majority  of  cases  is  not  to 
reconcile  the  presence  of  suffering  with  the 
existence  of  God,  but  to  reconcile  our  conception 
of  that  aspect  of  God's  character  which  we  call 
beneficent,  with  our  perception  of  that  aspect  of 
suffering  which  we  characterise  as  maleficent.  We 
have  surrounded  the  king  with  knight  and  bishop 
and  pawn,  so  that  for  every  possible  move  a  check 
is  waiting  Our  various  attempts  at  a  solution 
consist  in  the  exchange  of  a  pawn  for  some  other 
piece,  but  the  inevitable  checkmate  is  merely  post- 
poned thereby.  As  long  as  suffering  is  looked  at 
as  an  effect  whose  cause  is  to  be  found  in  God's 
activity,  the  problem  set  us  is  more  or  less  in- 
soluble. This  aspect  of  the  question  is  more  or  less 
forced  upon  us  by  the  constitution  of  our  minds, 
which  demands  a  cause  for  every  effect,  and  seeks 
to  replace  the  many  causes  by  one  sole  cause.  If 
any  light  is  to  come  to  us  from  this  aspect  of  the 
question,  it  can  only  come  by  regarding  suffering, 
not  as  the  effect  of  God's  activity,  but  as  an  effect 
of  His  existence  ;  not,  that  is,  from  what  He  does 
and  permits,  but  from  what  He  Himself  is  and 
feels.  As  long  as  we  regard  Him  solely  as  the 
active  or  passive  producer  of  suffering,  the  problem 
is  an  enigma  leading  to  despair.  If  we  conceive  of 
Him  as  Himself  a  partaker,  a  voluntary  sharer,  the 
problem  may  not  be  solved,  but  it  is  no  longer  an 
enigma.  Beneficence  and  the  infliction  of  suffering 
in  God  present  a  problem  which  to  many  minds  is 


XII         ENNOBLED  BY  SUFFERING        137 

inexplicable.  Beneficence  and  voluntary  participa- 
tion in  suffering  on  the  part  of  God,  is  an  entirely 
different  problem.  It  may  present  difficulties  in 
another  direction,  but  the  moral  difficulty  has  to  a 
large  extent  disappeared.  We  may  ask  why  God 
should  suffer,  and  find  the  solution  just  as  difficult, 
but  while  our  failure  may  convince  us  of  our  in- 
sufficiency for  the  task  we  have  'attempted,  it  will 
not  land  us  in  despair. 

There  is,  however,  another  aspect  of  the  problem 
of  suffering  which  we  are  in  danger  of  forgetting. 
Suffering  may  be  regarded  as  an  effect  whose  cause 
must  in  the  last  resort  be  sought  in  God,  but  it 
may  also  be  looked  at  as  a  cause  whose  effect,  as 
discovered  in  human  life  and  conduct,  justifies  its 
presence  as  one  of  the  working  forces  of  the  world. 
The  two  problems  are  not  the  same,  but  they  are 
two  aspects  of  one  subject.  The  solution  of  the  one 
does  not  help  us  much  in  the  solution  of  the  other, 
but  both  are  equally  important.  The  consideration 
of  suffering  as  a  cause  is  productive  of  much  richer 
results  than  the  consideration  of  suffering  as  an 
effect.  In  the  latter  case  we  are  questioning  the 
reason  for  its  presence,  in  the  former  we  have 
accepted  it  as  an  ultimate,  a  force  in  the  moral, 
like  gravity  in  the  physical,  realm,  and  we  are 
seeking  its  reasonableness  in  the  effects  it  is  able  to 
produce.  We  have  ceased  to  ask  the  why,  we 
have  replaced  it  with  the  what,  and  the  results  are 
proportionately   greater.      Even    here    there   are 


138  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    xii 

elements  of  discord  and  contrariety,  but  the  un- 
known is  not  a  paralysing  influence,  while  the 
known  is  invigorating  and  inspiring. 

The  relation  of  Christ  to  the  problem  of 
suffering  has  not  received  the  attention  it  deserves, 
largely  perhaps  because  we  have  been  struck  with 
the  fact,  though  we  have  hardly  appreciated  its 
significance,  that  to  Christ  apparently  the  problem 
did  not  exist.  Though  He  was  pre-eminently  the 
Man  of  Sorrows,  though  His  life  was  from  beginning 
to  end  clouded  with  suffering,  yet,  as  far  as  we  can 
see,  the  problem,  as  far  as  we  are  accustomed  to 
formulate  it,  never  presented  itself  to  His  thought, 
nor  entered  into  His  teaching.  No  one  has 
ever  entered  into  such  loving  and  trustful  relation 
with  the  Father  as  did  Jesus  Christ,  no  one  has 
ever  conceived  of  God  in  such  deep  ethical  terms, 
and  yet,  as  far  as  we  can  understand  from  the 
records  of  His  life  which  have  come  down  to  us, 
the  problem  of  His  own  suffering  or  the  suffering 
with  which  He  was  confronted  every  day  never  in 
the  slightest  degree  interfered  with  that  perfectly 
trustful  communion  between  His  spirit  and  God 
which  is  the  distinguishing  feature  of  His  unique 
life.  He  found  no  difficulty  such  as  other  minds 
have  found  in  reconciling  the  presence  of  suffering 
with  His  distinctive  conception  of  God  as  the 
Father.  From  the  entire  absence  of  any  special 
reference  to  the  question  on  the  part  of  Christ, 
it  seems  reasonable  to  conclude  that    for    Christ 


XII        ENNOBLED  BY  SUFFERING       139 

at  least  the  problem  is  as  though  it  were  not. 
This  cannot  be  explained  by  any  reference  to 
national  life  or  creed.  The  Jew  felt  the  problem 
as  keenly,  if  not  more  keenly  than  the  Gentile. 
The  book  of  Job  is  a  sufficient  evidence  of  that. 
The  explanation  must  be  sought  in  the  direction 
previously  indicated,  namely,  in  the  conception  of 
suffering,  not  as  an  effect  of  God's  activity  merely, 
but  as  a  constituent  element  in,  a  sine  qua  non  of 
the  Divine  nature.  If  one  were  to  interpret  what 
apparently  was  Christ's  conception  of  suffering, 
we  should  have  to  express  it  in  similar  terms  to 
those  which  He  applied  to  His  own  work.  Of 
that  work  He  said,  "  My  Father  worketh  hitherto, 
and  I  also  work."  Of  His  suffering  He  would 
have  said,  "  My  Father  suffereth  hitherto,  and  I 
also  suffer."  The  cup  which  He  had  to  drink 
was  one  from  which  His  physical  nature  shrank, 
but  it  was  one  which  offered  no  difficulty  to  His 
moral  and  spiritual  nature.  He  speaks  of  it  as 
"  The  cup  which  My  Father  giveth  Me."  If  it 
be  possible,  He  desires  that  it  shall  pass  from  Him 
untasted,  but  so  convinced  is  He  of  its  harmony 
with  the  conception  of  God  as  Father,  that  He 
adds,  "Nevertheless  not  as  I  will,  but  as  Thou  wilt." 
Whatever  conception  we  may  form  as  to  the  real 
nature  of  Jesus  Christ,  whether  we  regard  Him  as 
human  or  Divine,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  He 
attained  to  a  sane  and  healthy  conception  of  the 
moral    character  of  God  which  is  unique  in  the 


I40  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    xii 

history  of  religious  thought.  It  is  in  the  highest 
degree  significant,  therefore,  that  in  those  serene 
heights  of  rehgious  thought  and  feeUng  in  which 
Christ  moved  we  find  not  a  trace  of  that  perplexed 
thought  due  to  a  realisation  of  what  we  call  the 
problem  of  suffering.  It  is  difficult  to  see  what 
other  explanation  there  can  be  of  this  significant 
fact,  besides  that  which  connects  suffering,  not 
with  the  actions,  but  with  the  very  nature  of  God. 
He  who  was  at  one  with  the  Father,  found  no 
"  problem  "  either  in  His  own  personal  suffering 
or  in  the  suffering  of  others. 

On  the  question,  as  distinct  from  the  problem, 
of  suffering,  the  attitude  of  Christ  is  definite  and 
clear.  Suffering  was  constantly  before  Him,  it 
shaped  His  ministry  and  coloured  all  His  teaching. 
To  Christ,  however,  it  was  an  ultimate  beyond 
which  He  did  not  travel.  He  discussed  its 
justification  as  little  as  He  did  the  sequence  of 
the  seasons,  or  any  other  manifestation  of  God's 
natural  order.  It  was  something  which  appealed 
to  His  compassion  and  called  forth  His  help,  but 
as  a  problem  it  never  presented  itself  to  His  mind. 
This  is  well  seen  in  the  remarkable  interview  with 
the  man  who  was  born  blind,  which  is  recorded 
in  the  Gospel  of  John.  As  He  and  His  disciples 
passed  along  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  they  met  a 
blind  beggar  sitting  by  the  wayside  and  asking 
alms.  He  was  evidently  a  well-known  figure,  and 
the  disciples  appear  to  have  been  acquainted  with 


XII         ENNOBLED  BY  SUFFERING       141 

something  of  his  history.  Their  minds  had  been 
quickened  by  their  intercourse  with  their  Master, 
and  the  problem  of  suffering,  about  which  they  had 
probably  thought  and  discussed  amongst  themselves, 
was  suddenly  brought  to  their  minds  by  the  sight 
of  the  blind  man.  "  Master,"  they  ask,  "  who 
sinned,  this  man  or  his  parents,  that  he  was  born 
blind  ? "  They  are  familiar  with  the  common 
conception  of  their  day,  that  sin  and  suffering 
are  invariably  associated  as  cause  and  effect. 
They  are  curious  to  know  whose  sin  the  present 
suffering  represents,  the  man's  own  or  his  parents*. 
The  Jewish  pedants  had  carried  their  fanciful 
interpretation  even  beyond  a  man's  actual  birth,  and 
dealt  with  prenatal  sins,  so  that  the  disciples  are 
merely  expressing  ideas  which  they  had  gathered, 
rather  than  ideas  which  they  originated. 

Christ's  answer  is  remarkable,  not  merely  for 
the  emphatic  negative  which  it  contains,  but  for 
its  positive  assertion.  "  Neither  he  nor  his  parents 
sinned ;  but  he  was  born  blind  in  order  that 
the  works  of  God  might  be  manifested  in  him." 
He  negatives  the  idea  that  suffering  must  be 
regarded  as  invariably  connected  with  sin.  Such 
a  conception  is  unjust  as  well  as  untrue,  leads  to 
misjudgment  as  well  as  to  incorrect  conclusions. 
It  is  due  to  looking  at  suffering  as  an  effect. 
Suffering  may  be  a  cause,  and  the  difference  of 
the  standpoint  at  once  alters  the  whole  aspect  of 
the    case.     The    man's    suffering    must    not    be 


142  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xii 

regarded  as  an  effect  of  sin  or  of  anything  else  ; 
it  is  to  be  looked  at  as  a  cause  intended  to  evoke 
compassion  and  help  in  others,  and  capable  of 
producing  moral  effects  in  the  man  himself.  The 
answer  is  remarkable,  especially  as  coming  from 
One  who  was  essentially  an  Idealist.  Christ 
ignores  the  ''  why ''  of  the  modern  problem,  and 
confines  His  attention  to  the  "  what "  of  practical 
conduct.  In  the  case  of  the  man  who  raised  the 
social  problem.  He  goes  to  the  root  of  the  evil, 
and  turns  away  from  the  practical  redress.  In 
the  case  of  the  question  of  divorce.  He  replies  as 
the  Idealist,  ignoring  the  actual  and  going  back  to 
the  origin  of  the  marriage  institution.  Here  on 
the  other  hand,  when  the  problem  of  suffering 
is  raised,  He  ignores  the  theory  and  gives  the 
answer  of  the  practical.  There  is  no  inconsistency 
here,  it  is  due  to  an  essential  distinction  between 
the  different  problems.  The  social  problem  and 
the  divorce  question  have  their  origin  in  the 
human  sphere  of  conduct,  and  it  is  the  ideal  alone 
which  can  explain  and  settle  them.  The  question 
of  suffering  is  in  Christ's  mind  connected  with  the 
Divine  nature,  its  mystery  is  the  mystery  that  of 
necessity  belongs  to  the  nature  of  God.  It  is  an 
ultimate  with  which  we  have  to  deal,  to  which 
we  have  to  accommodate  ourselves,  not  something 
which  we  can  discuss  and  explain.  It  has  a 
purpose  which  it  behoves  us  to  find  out,  it 
presents    us    with    an    opportunity  which    we    do 


XII         ENNOBLED  BY  SUFFERING       143 

well  to  seize  ere  it  passes  from  our  grasp.  We 
must  do  the  works  of  God  while  the  daylight  lasts, 
for  the  night  is  coming  in  which  work  is  impossible. 
The  suffering  which  paralyses  us  as  a  problem, 
inspires  us  as  an  opportunity  for  a  manifestation  of 
that  compassion  and  help  which  make  us  akin  to 
God.  In  the  depths  of  the  Divine  nature  there 
may  be  a  reconciliation  between  the  thought  which 
institutes,  and  the  feeling  which  relieves,  suffering  ; 
between  the  pain  which  feels,  and  the  joy  which 
results  from  suffering ;  but  the  depths  of  the 
Divine  nature  we  cannot  fathom.  The  response 
of  the  heart,  however,  is  of  more  consequence  than 
the  answer  of  the  head. 

Having  replied  to  the  disciples'  question,  Christ 
turns  to  the  blind  man,  and  anointing  his  eyes 
with  clay,  tells  him  to  go  to  the  Pool  of  Siloam 
and  wash.  The  man  has  doubtless  listened  to  the 
discussion  with  interest.  He  has  probably  raised 
the  same  question  many  a  time  in  his  own  mind, 
but  has  been  unable  to  answer  it.  Christ's  answer 
impresses  him  with  its  justice,  and  the  reference  to 
doing  the  works  of  God  fills  him  with  a  new  hope. 
The  command  therefore  of  Christ  he  receives  in 
silence,  but  obeys  without  question.  There  is 
something  in  the  tones  of  the  voice  which  inspires 
confidence.  He  cannot  read  faces,  but  he  is  a 
good  judge  of  people's  voices.  His  faith  is 
rewarded,  and  he  returns  in  full  possession  of  the 
sight  which  from  his  birth  had  been  denied  him. 


144  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    xii 

His  interview  with  the  Pharisees  is  full  of 
interest,  as  showing  the  character  of  the  man,  and 
the  influence  his  infirmity  had  had  upon  him. 
There  is  an  honesty  and  straightforwardness  about 
him  which  betoken  a  character  quite  the  reverse 
of  that  which  we  should  expect  from  one  who 
had  been  so  grievously  handicapped.  He  had 
been  blind  from  his  birth,  but  the  deprivation  of 
one  faculty  had  increased  the  power  of  the  others, 
and  he  reveals  a  quick  and  ready  mind  which  no 
amount  of  brow-beating  can  affect.  He  has  been 
a  beggar  all  his  life,  but  he  has  not  been  ungrateful 
or  complaining.  He  remembers  with  affection 
those  who  have  helped  him,  and  his  gratitude 
finds  expression  in  a  sturdy  defence  of  his 
benefactor.  He  has  not  been  able  to  work,  but 
he  has  been  accustomed  to  think  and  form  his 
own  opinions,  and  his  reasoning  faculty  is  more 
than  equal  to  the  demand  which  his  interview  with 
the  rulers  of  the  synagogue  makes  upon  it.  He 
has  never  had  a  chance  of  judging  men  by  their 
countenances,  but  he  has  been  a  keen  reader  of 
character,  and  knows  a  good  man  when  brought 
into  contact  with  him.  He  has  his  own  con- 
ceptions of  religion,  though  he  has  probably 
received  little  instruction  from  the  religious 
teachers  of  his  people,  and  one  of  his  convictions 
is  that,  whatever  people  may  think  and  say  about 
a  man,  God  takes  notice  of  character,  and  answers 
the   prayer   of    a   righteous   man.     He   has    too 


XII        ENNOBLED  BY  SUFFERING       145 

much  honesty  to  fall  in  with  the  suggestion  that 
he  should  give  glory  to  God  when  that  involves 
passing  condemnation  upon  the  man  who  has 
cured  him.  The  rulers  may  profess  to  know  that 
his  healer  is  a  sinner  if  they  like,  but  he  knows 
the  gracious  work  He  has  performed,  and  there 
is  the  echo  of  those  words  of  Christ  still  ringing 
in  his  ears — *'  Neither  has  this  man  sinned  nor  his 
parents "  —  and  he  is  not  going  to  repay  his 
benefactor  with  slander.  They  may  have  their 
own  opinion  of  the  nature  of  the  miracle,  and 
refer  it  to  Beelzebub  if  they  will,  but  he  recalls 
the  words,  "  I  must  work  the  works  of  Him  that 
sent  Me,"  and  he  stoutly  maintains  that  God  does 
not  hear  sinners.  They  may  impugn  his  loyalty 
to  Moses,  and  cast  him  out  of  the  synagogue,  but 
they  cannot  make  him  disloyal  to  the  One  who  has 
given  him  sight.  As  the  result  of  his  suffering 
the  man  is  outwardly  a  beggar,  but  inwardly  he 
is  a  royal  prince.  His  infirmity  has  not  soured 
him,  he  is  ever  cheerful.  Instead  of  debasing 
him,  it  has  ennobled  him.  Sight  has  been  with- 
held, but  insight  has  been  gained.  He  may  be 
forsaken  even  by  his  parents,  but  he  will  not 
forsake  his  friend.  The  ban  of  excommunication 
which  the  Pharisees  pass  upon  him  is  a  patent  of 
nobility.  Handicapped  though  he  has  been,  in 
character  he  stands  head  and  shoulders  above  his 
persecutors. 

Christ   hears    that  they  have  excommunicated 


146  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    xii 

him,  and  finds  him  out.  Deserted  by  his  own 
parents  for  fear  of  the  Jews,  the  man  is  alone  and 
friendless.  The  One  Friend,  however,  for  whom 
he  had  suffered  does  not  forsake  him,  but  seeking 
him  out  asks,  "  Do  you  believe  in  the  Son  of 
God  ? "  The  title  is  that  of  the  Messiah,  and  as 
such  the  man  understands  it,  but  though  he 
believes  his  Healer  to  be  a  prophet,  he  does  not 
yet  know  that  He  is  the  Messiah.  He  has,  how- 
ever, enough  confidence  to  believe  whatever  Christ 
tells  him,  for  he  has  already  realised  that  He  is 
one  who  has  come  from  God,  and  his  past  con- 
fidence was  justified  by  results.  **Who  is  he, 
Sir,"  he  answers  ;  "  tell  me,  that  I  may  believe  in 
Him?" 

This  was  another  case,  like  that  of  the  Sa- 
maritan woman,  where  Christ  felt  that  He  could 
speak  plainly.  The  man  had  already  proved 
his  loyalty,  and  had  suffered  in  consequence  of 
it.  Cut  off  from  his  old  life,  and  excommunicated 
by  the  religious  authorities,  the  man  needed  a  new 
interest  in  life,  a  new  centre  around  which  his 
religious  thought  and  feeling  could  gather.  His 
eyes  had  been  opened  by  the  Messiah,  his  gaze 
needed  to  be  directed  to  the  Messiah.  Vision  had 
been  given,  but  it  needed  adjustment.  He  had 
recognised  the  Divine  voice  when  he  had  heard  it, 
he  needed  to  connect  it  with  the  fulfilment  of  his 
nation's  hopes  and  aspirations  in  the  actual  coming 
of  its  Messiah.     "You  have  seen  Him,"  answers 


XII         ENNOBLED  BY  SUFFERING       147 

Christ ;  "  and  more  than  that,  the  One  who  is  now 
talking  to  you  is  He."  The  new  faculty  of  sight 
is  a  confirmation  of  the  old  faculty  of  insight. 
The  man  though  deprived  of  sight  had  recognised 
the  Divine  by  the  exercise  of  his  ear.  The  tones 
of  the  voice  had  been  his  guide,  and  they  had  not 
deceived  him.  He  had  felt  that  this  Man  must 
be  sent  of  God,  and  he  now  learns  that  He  is 
the  Messiah  of  promise.  He  had  walked  by  faith 
hitherto  and  not  by  sight,  henceforth  he  would  be 
able  to  walk  by  sight  as  well  as  by  faith.  He 
had  heard  the  voice  but  had  not  been  able  to  see 
the  face,  yet  he  had  believed  that  the  Healer  was 
a  prophet.  Now  he  sees  as  well  as  hears,  and  the 
recognition  is  instantaneous.  "  I  believe,  Lord," 
he  cries  out,  and  bends  the  knee  in  loving 
reverence  to  the  Saviour  who  is  also  the  King. 

Christ  recognises  in  the  whole  incident  the 
working  out  of  a  law  of  just  compensation,  which 
His  own  presence  and  ministry  have  emphasised. 
He  has  not  come  to  explain  the  mystery  of 
suffering,  or  to  clear  up  the  darker  mystery  of 
sin.  The  effect  of  His  coming,  however,  is  the 
manifestation  of  the  just  law  of  compensation. 
Suffering  means  deprivation,  it  involves  a  life  of 
dependence  upon  others,  but  it  brings  its  own 
compensations.  In  place  of  sight  there  is 
insight ;  in  place  of  material,  there  is  spiritual 
prosperity  ;  instead  of  the  exercise  of  power  there 
is  a  development  of  character.     The  man  who  is 


148  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    xii 

blind  may  see  what  the  man  who  sees  is  blind  to. 
Those  who  have  sight  are  not  always  possessed 
of  insight.  Religion  is  a  great  revealer,  and  life 
looked  at  from  the  spiritual  standpoint  appears 
very  different  from  the  aspect  which  the  con- 
templation of  it  from  the  non-religious  standpoint 
presents.  There  are  lives  which  are  rich  though 
they  seem  to  be  poor,  others  which  are  full  of 
joy  though  they  seem  to  be  filled  with  sorrow, 
and  others  again  which  are  blessed  with  an  inner 
light  though  the  windows  seem  to  be  darkened. 
A  just  discrimination  is  what  Christ  came  to 
accomplish,  and  indeed  has  accomplished.  He 
has  not  solved  the  problems  of  life  which  we  have 
constructed,  but  He  has  given  us  His  judgment 
upon  life,  and  in  the  light  of  that  judgment 
things  are  not  what  they  seem.  Suffering  stands 
revealed  as  beneficent  rather  than  maleficent, 
sorrow  is  transfigured  with  a  divine  glory,  and 
even  around  the  black  cloud  with  which  the 
problem  of  evil  darkens  human  life  there  is  a 
golden  glory  which  points  to  the  final  goal  of 
good.  "  I  have  come  for  judgment,"  He  says,  as 
His  comment  on  what  has  taken  place,  "  so  that 
those  who  are  blind  may  see,  and  those  who  see 
may  become  blind.''  The  Pharisees  catch  the 
words  but  not  the  meaning,  and  with  a  super- 
cilious and  sarcastic  air  ask,  "  We  also  are  blind  ; 
is  that  what  you  mean  ? "  Their  words  are  truer 
than  their  thought.     What  they  think   is  biting 


XII        ENNOBLED  BY  SUFFERING        149 

sarcasm  is  bitter  and  literal  truth.  There  is  a 
double  meaning  in  the  word  which  Christ  takes 
up.  There  is  a  blindness  which,  like  that  of  the 
man  who  has  been  healed,  is  a  misfortune,  but  there 
is  another  which  is  a  sin.  The  one  is  blameless, 
the  other  is  criminal.  If  they  could  not  see,  they 
would  be  guiltless.  That  they  would  not  see  left 
them  without  excuse.  "If  you  were  blind  you 
would  be  guiltless  ;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  you 
pose  as  seers,  and  as  a  consequence  the  sin  of 
wilfully  shutting  your  eyes  remains." 


XIII 

AN    UNCONVENTIONAL    LAWYER 
Luke  X.  25-37. 

The  law  of  motion,  that  action  and  reaction  are 
equal  and  opposite,  applies  to  the  mental  as  well 
as  to  the  physical  spheres.  In  estimating  the 
effect  of  mental  training,  we  must  always  take 
into  account  the  character  of  the  mind  that  is 
trained,  as  well  as  the  nature  of  the  training  to 
which  it  is  subjected.  Some  minds  have  an  elas- 
ticity which  causes  them  to  rebound  in  the  opposite 
direction  from  that  to  which  their  system  of 
training  has  forced  them.  The  man  who  has  been 
trained  in  the  strictest  principles  of  reason  will 
suddenly  develop  an  extraordinary  capacity  for 
faith.  The  materialistic  philosopher  will  suddenly 
be  transformed  into  the  spiritualist  or  theosophist. 
The  mind  which  has  been  brought  up  in  unques- 
tioning obedience  to  authority,  will  as  suddenly 
assert  its  own  innate  right  to  command  and  think 
for  itself.  A  man's  training  is  a  force  which  tends 
in  a  given  direction,  and  its  effect  can  be  calculated 

ISO 


XIII  AN  UNCONVENTIONAL  LAWYER  151 

with  exactness.  The  man  himself,  however,  is 
also  a  force,  and  his  strength  or  weakness  has  to 
be  taken  into  account  in  determining  the  final 
result.  Some  minds  are  essentially  passive,  with 
a  great  capacity  for  receptivity,  and  as  the  result 
the  man  is  more  or  less  what  his  training  has  made 
him.  Others,  however,  are  essentially  active,  they 
not  only  assimilate  and  absorb,  but  they  transform. 
Their  training  doubtless  acts  upon  them,  but  its 
true  effect  is  seen  in  the  reaction  which  follows, 
and  this  carries  them  in  an  entirely  different 
direction  from  that  which  their  training  predicted. 
A  man's  knowledge  may  indicate  the  value  of  the 
training  he  has  received,  but  it  is  the  use  he  makes 
of  his  knowledge  which  indicates  the  value  of  the 
man. 

The  lawyer  who  came  to  Christ  with  the  same 
question  which  the  young  ruler  asked,  while 
probably  a  recipient  of  the  same  training,  was  a 
very  different  type  of  character.  There  was  none 
of  the  enthusiasm  which  characterised  the  younger 
man,  nor  is  there  any  of  the  admiration  for  the 
Prophet  of  Nazareth,  which  is  so  marked  in  the 
case  of  the  ruler,  both  in  his  approach  and  in  the 
style  of  his  address.  The  lawyer  is  evidently  a 
much  older  man.  Whatever  may  have  been  the 
distinguishing  feature  of  his  younger  days,  en- 
thusiasm is  certainly  not  that  of  his  later  years. 
If  he  ever  possessed  any  it  has  long  since  died 
down.     A   wider  experience    of  life  and  of  the 


152  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xiii 

character  of  his   fellow-men    has   made  him   too 
cautious  to  commit  himself,  like  the  young  ruler, 
to  any  description  of  character  by  merely  scanning 
a  countenance.     He  has  heard  of  the  reputation 
of  the  Galilean  Prophet,  and  he  is  anxious  to  test 
the  value  of  the  report.     It  is  a  mental  satisfaction 
which  he  seeks,  not  a  yearning  of  the  soul  which 
he  feels  compelled  to  satisfy.     It  is  the  interest  a 
man  feels  in  an  intellectual  problem,  not  the  in- 
tensity of  a  spiritual  craving,  which  brings  him  to 
Jesus  of  Nazareth.     While  this  is  doubtless  true, 
the  nature  of  the  question  he  asks  reveals  an  indi- 
viduality which   distinguishes   him   from    a   mere 
member  of  a  class,  one  of  the  many  lawyers  with 
whom  Jerusalem  abounds.     Though  a  lawyer  by 
profession,  it  is  no  mere  legal  question  which  he 
asks.     However  much  his  training  and  daily  pro- 
fession may  have  tended  to  extinguish  any  desire 
for  a  deeper  life  which  he  may  once  have  possessed, 
there  was  at  least  the  memory  of  his  earlier  aspira- 
tions,  the  recollection    of  the    deeper   and    more 
earnest  questions  of  life,  which  in  his  youth  and 
early  manhood  had  pressed  for  answer  and  had 
pressed  in   vain.     The  reports  about  the   young 
Prophet  of  Galilee   have    stirred  old    memories ; 
ghosts  of  the  old  ideals,  which  were  once  so  throb- 
bing  with    life,    emerge    from    forgotten    graves 
within  his  mind,  and  recall  his  early  enthusiasm. 
Has  this  Jesus  of  Nazareth  solved  the  problems 
which  proved  too  much  for  himself,  and  discovered 


XIII  AN  UNCONVENTIONAL  LAWYER  153 

the  answer  to  the  question  of  questions  which  he 
long  ago  gave  up  as  unanswerable?  He  is  in- 
different to  the  quibbles  of  his  professional 
brethren,  the  splitting  of  hairs  which  they  have 
reduced  to  a  fine  art,  those  fine  distinctions  which 
are  the  delight  of  the  casuistical  mind.  These  are 
to  him  no  tests  by  which  to  discover  whether  a 
man  has  a  message  for  his  fellows.  Can  this 
prophet  answer  the  problem  of  the  human  heart 
which  craves  for  life,  and  that  in  richer  abundance  ? 
His  answer  to  this  question  will  determine  His 
position  as  a  religious  teacher.  His  ability  to 
speak  to  the  heart  of  His  fellow-men  is  the  best 
evidence  of  the  claim  which  is  put  forth  on  His 
behalf,  that  He  is  a  prophet  of  God.  He  comes 
therefore  to  Christ,  not  as  a  lawyer  primed  with 
some  intricate  question  of  law  or  ritual,  but  as  a 
man  with  intensely  human  interests,  seeking  an 
answer  to  the  great  question  of  the  human  heart. 
Dispensing  with  all  preliminaries,  he  comes  to  the 
heart  of  the  matter  with  a  directness  and  plainness 
of  speech,  which  reveal  a  human  heart,  and  not  a 
legal  mind.  ''  Rabbi,"  he  asks,  "  what  shall  I  do 
to  inherit  eternal  life  ?  *' 

At  first  sight  it  seems  as  though  Christ's  answer 
was  ill -adapted  to  the  mental  attitude  of  His 
questioner.  The  man  had  come,  not  as  the  lawyer 
but  as  the  man.  He  had  rid  himself  of  the  in- 
fluence of  his  training  and  profession,  looked  at 
life  with  the  eyes  of  a  layman,  and  asked  a  question. 


154  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xiii 

not  of  legal  significance,  but  of  deep  human  interest. 
His  mind  was  emancipated  from  the  slavery  of  a 
special  training,  and  the  tyranny  of  an  exclusive 
profession.     He  had  extricated  himself  from  those 
class  prejudices  and  professional  views  of  religion 
which  so  effectually  prevented  his  fellow-lawyers 
from  taking  a  human  view  of  things.     The  reaction 
of  a  healthy  human  mind  and  heart  had  come, 
direct  thinking  had  taken  the  place  of  the  tortuous 
windings  of  a  casuistical  mind,  the  honest  facing 
of  a  problem  of  real  interest  had  taken  the  place 
of    quibbling    evasions    of   imaginary    difficulties. 
"  What  is  written  in  the  Law,  how  have  you  read 
it  ?  '*  seems  like  the  tactless  answer  of  a  tyro  in 
the   art  of  teaching,  rather  than  the  reply  of  an 
expert.     Instead   of  leading   the   man  further   on 
in  the  path  of  freedom  upon  which  he  has  entered, 
it  seems  like    conducting    him    back    to   his   old 
captivity.     The   expert,  however,  can   take  risks 
which   are   fatal  for  the  tyro   to  attempt.      The 
skilled  physician,  with   his  hand  on  his  patient's 
pulse,  can  administer  a  life-giving  stimulant  which 
in  the  hands  of  the  ordinary  practitioner  would  be 
attended  with  fatal  results.     While  in  theory  the 
end  never  justifies  the  means,  in  practice  the  result 
justifies  the  act.     Reaction  is  the  continuation  of 
the  action  of  the  initial  force,  the  rebound  of  the 
mind  is  the  result  of  the  action  of  the  same  force 
which  originally  set  it  moving.     The  mind  will 
sometimes  respond  more  readily  to  the  action  of 


XIII  AN  UNCONVENTIONAL  LAWYER  155 

an  old  impulse  than  to  the  attraction  of  a  new 
motive.  A  push  from  behind  is  sometimes  more 
effective  than  a  pull  in  front.  A  man's  early 
training  is  never  altogether  in  vain,  however  much 
he  may  in  later  life  and  with  a  wider  experience 
deprecate  the  influences  to  which  he  was  subjected. 
In  this  man's  case  the  Law  had  been  a  schoolmaster 
which  had  led  him  to  Christ,  and  Christ  rightly 
interpreted  the  work  which  the  old  master  had 
accomplished.  The  student  is  desirous  of  entering 
a  new  school,  it  is  therefore  expedient  to  find  out 
how  far  he  has  read  in  the  old.  "  What  is  written 
in  the  Law,  how  have  you  read  it  ? ''  The  old 
text-book  may  be  obsolete,  but  it  is  not  worthless. 
The  primer  may  be  inadequate,  but  it  is  not  un- 
true. The  time  may  have  come  to  discard  it,  but 
the  time  will  never  come  to  despise  it.  All  that 
we  are  we  owe  to  the  Law  which  has  been  taught 
us,  and  even  our  present  attitude  of  antipathy  is 
due  to  the  impulse  it  originally  gave  us.  How 
have  we  read  the  revelation  it  contained  ?  What 
use  have  we  made  of  the  knowledge  it  imparted  ^ 
If  we  have  failed  in  our  use  of  the  primer,  we  are 
hardly  likely  to  succeed  with  the  advanced  reader. 
How  we  have  read  is  of  far  more  importance  than 
whal  we  have  read.  The  influence  the  training 
has  exerted  upon  us  is  of  far  greater  importance 
than  the  form  the  training  took. 

Christ's  method  of  dealing  with  His  questioner 
is  fully  justified  by  the  answer  it  evoked.     The 


156  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xiii 

Law  had  stimulated  the  man's  religious  thinking, 
its  study  had  succeeded  in  enabling  him  to  ask  a 
question  which  it  was  inadequate  to  answer.  The 
old  schoolmaster,  in  spite  of  his  antiquated  ways 
and  prosy  methods,  had  successfully  accomplished 
his  task.  In  spite  of  giving  his  pupil  much  that 
was  trifling  and  commonplace,  he  had  shown  him 
the  essentials  of  a  sound  education,  and  opened  up 
to  his  mind  unexplored  vistas  of  a  deeper  know- 
ledge. The  pupil,  too,  had  not  wasted  his  time 
in  accumulating  a  mass  of  rules  and  formulas 
which  were  useless  and  obsolete.  He  had  gained 
an  insight  into  the  heart  of  religion  which  made 
him  long  for  a  deeper  knowledge,  and  produced  a 
dissatisfaction  with  his  present  attainments.  While 
his  school-fellows  were  absorbed  in  the  straight 
lines  and  pothooks  of  the  infant  class,  the  jots  and 
tittles  of  the  alphabet,  he  had  grasped  the  great 
fact  that  the  outgoing  of  the  heart  to  God  and 
man  constituted  the  very  essence  of  the  religious 
life.  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with 
all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all 
thy  mind,  and  with  all  thy  strength  ;  and  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself." 

There  is  the  fullest  appreciation  of  the  student's 
attainments  in  the  answer  Christ  makes.  There  is 
the  most  generous  recognition  on  the  part  of  the 
new  teacher  of  the  pupil's  successful  career  in  the 
old  school.  "You  have  answered  correctly,  you 
have  grasped  the  significance  of  the  lessons  you 


XIII  AN  UNCONVENTIONAL  LAWYER  157 

have  been  taught.  The  rules  have  been  faithfully 
committed  to  memory,  the  principles  have  been 
well  understood."  With  that  keen  perception  of 
character,  however,  which  marks  the  perfect  teacher. 
He  perceives  the  defect  in  the  man's  character. 
Intelligence  is  stamped  upon  the  brow,  but  in- 
decision is  clearly  marked  in  the  lines  of  the 
mouth.  The  failure  is  not  due  to  any  lack  of 
intelligence,  but  to  a  defect  of  will,  a  lack  of 
application.  The  pupil  knows  the  rules  perfectly, 
he  does  not  apply  them  correctly.  "  This  do  and 
you  shall  live.''  Put  into  practice  the  knowledge 
you  have  obtained,  and  the  life  you  desire  shall  be 
your  own  possession.  Religion  is  not  knowledge, 
it  is  living.  Morality  is  not  ethical  theory,  it  is 
ethical  practice.  The  satisfaction  which  the  heart 
craves  for  is  different  from  the  satisfaction  which 
the  mind  discovers.  The  mind  is  satisfied  with 
the  perception  of  truth,  the  heart  is  only  satisfied 
with  its  realisation  in  life. 

The  shaft  went  home,  and  the  man  recoils  from 
the  sting  of  his  own  conscience.  He  knows  his 
own  weakness,  and  the  self-evident  truth  rouses 
his  slumbering  conscience.  There  is  nothing  new 
in  the  remark,  he  has  known  it  all  the  time,  but 
the  application  of  it  to  his  own  life  and  conduct 
stings  him  with  a  sense  of  shame,  and  his  failure 
fills  him  with  reproach.  The  pupil  is  confronted 
with  his  old  exercise-books,  and  the  blots  and 
mistakes  with  which  they  are  filled  cause  him  to 


158  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xiii 

hang  his  head  in  confusion  and  shame.  While 
the  man  within  him  is  silent  under  the  sense  of 
guilt,  the  lawyer  within  him  takes  up  the  defence 
of  the  prisoner  at  the  bar.  The  Law  may  be 
simplicity  itself,  but  the  application  is  by  no  means 
as  easy  as  it  seems.  Principles  are  easy  to  grasp, 
but  hard  to  apply.  Terms  may  be  so  compre- 
hensive as  to  be  indefinite,  duties  may  be  so  con- 
flicting as  to  be  confusing.  ''  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself"  may  be  a  simple  rule  of  life, 
but  life  is  by  no  means  simple  but  complex.  Who 
is  the  neighbour  whom  I  must  love  as  much  as  I 
love  myself?  While  the  man  is  dumbfounded 
with  the  directness  of  the  charge,  the  lawyer  is 
busy  arranging  the  line  of  defence,  and  here  his 
training  and  education  stand  him  in  good  stead. 
He  is  ready  with  his  authorities,  and  fully  primed 
with  precedents. 

Christ's  reply  is  as  characteristic  of  the  Teacher 
as  it  is  appropriate  to  the  pupil.  In  place  of  the 
definition  which  has  been  asked.  He  gives  the 
illustration  that  is  needed.  The  man's  failure  has 
not  been  due  to  any  inability  to  perceive,  but  to 
an  unwillingness  to  perform.  He  has  again  and 
again  perceived  the  duty,  but  evaded  it.  The 
opportunity  has  presented  itself,  but  he  has  passed 
it  by.  He  has  both  recognised  his  neighbour  and 
perceived  his  need,  but,  like  the  priest  and  the 
Levite,  he  has  passed  by  on  the  other  side.  The 
truth  which  the  mind  has  recognised,  the  heart  has 


XIII  AN  UNCONVENTIONAL  LAWYER  159 

not  responded  to.  The  knowledge  which  has 
been  acquired  has  not  been  used.  Christ  takes  no 
notice  of  the  lawyer,  He  makes  His  appeal  to  the 
man.  With  the  skill  of  the  Master,  He  depicts 
in  a  few  bold  outlines  a  well-known  landscape 
with  a  few  familiar  figures.  With  lifelike  vivid- 
ness a  simple  act  of  common  charity  is  sketched, 
and  in  a  few  pregnant  sentences  the  natures  of 
priest  and  Levite  and  Samaritan  are  exposed  to 
view.  The  man  is  suddenly  confronted  with  the 
answer  to  his  own  question  by  means  of  the 
counter  question,  *' Which  of  these  three  was 
neighbour  to  the  man  who  fell  among  thieves  ? " 
Now  it  is  the  lawyer  who  is  silent  and  the  man 
who  speaks.  He  takes  thought  neither  of  race 
nor  position,  he  sees  neither  priest  nor  Levite  nor 
Samaritan,  but  a  brother  responding  to  a  brother's 
need,  a  human  heart  overflowing  with  pity  for 
another's  misfortune,  bending  in  compassion  to 
relieve  another's  distress.  Almost  before  he 
knows  it,  there  slips  from  between  his  lips,  Jew 
and  lawyer  though  he  be,  the  answer,  *'The  one 
who  had  pity  on  him." 

The  first  lesson  in  the  new  school  is  over,  and 
the  teacher's  work  for  the  day  is  done.  The  new 
pupil  has  been  admitted,  and  the  first  home  lesson 
has  been  given.  "  Go,"  says  Christ,  "  and  act  in 
the  same  way." 


XIV 

THE    TWO    SISTERS 
Luke  X.  38-42. 

There  is  a  ministry  of  being  as  well  as  of  doing, 
a  sanctification  of  living  as  well  as  a  consecration 
of  service.  There  are  some  natures  which  are 
essentially  passive,  whose  power  is  in  their  recep- 
tivity, and  whose  chief  ministry  is  in  their  presence. 
Their  lives  pronounce  benedictions,  just  as  the 
activities  of  others  confer  benefactions.  The 
bequests  with  which  they  enrich  the  world  are 
not  great  charities  and  noble  deeds,  but  sacred 
memories  and  gracious  influences.  They  are  the 
flower  gardens  of  humanity,  whose  value  is  in 
their  beauty,  not  the  orchards  and  fields,  whose 
value  is  in  their  utility.  Their  ministry  is  the 
ministry  of  flowers,  and  their  charm  is  not  in 
what  they  do,  but  in  what  they  are.  They  are 
no  drones  in  the  hive  of  human  industry,  nor  yet 
busy  bees  hurrying  here  and  there  in  the  prosecution 
of  their  useful  task.  They  are  flowers  in  the 
garden,  distilling  fragrance  and  supplying  sweetness. 

l6o 


XIV  THE  TWO  SISTERS  i6i 

They  do  not  toil  neither  do  they  spin,  yet  the 
aroma  which  they  exude  no  toil  can  produce,  and 
the  exquisite  beauty  in  which  they  are  clothed  no 
spinning  can  equal.  They  transform  the  crude 
materials  in  their  environment  into  fragrance 
and  sweetness,  but  the  operation  is  carried  on 
within,  the  aroma  and  the  nectar  are  in  their  own 
natures.  While  they  thus  work  for  themselves, 
they  live  for  others.  They  exude  their  aroma 
with  generosity,  they  part  with  their  nectar  with 
liberality. 

Religion  is  not  a  revolution  which  destroys  the 
old  order,  it  is  an  evolution  which  transforms  it. 
The  spiritual  is  the  perfection,  not  the  destruction, 
of  the  natural.  It  is  the  legitimate  successor  not 
the  foreign  usurper.  ''  That  is  not  first  which  is 
spiritual,  but  that  which  is  natural  ;  the  spiritual 
is  that  which  comes  afterwards."  Conversion  does 
not  change  the  essentially  passive  nature  into  the 
active,  nor  the  essentially  active  into  the  passive. 
It  sanctifies  the  passive  and  consecrates  the  active. 
It  gives  a  more  delicate  scent  and  a  richer  nectar 
to  the  wild  flower  ;  it  transforms  the  crab  into  the 
luscious  apple,  the  grass  into  the  life-giving  wheat. 
It  is  not  an  alchemy  for  the  transmutation  of  metals, 
it  is  the  refiner's  fire  for  their  purification.  It  is 
not  the  destruction  of  the  man  for  the  purpose  of 
saving  his  soul,  it  is  the  development  of  the  soul 
for  the  purpose  of  saving  the  man.  The  true 
response  therefore  to  the  influence  of  religion  must 

M 


1 62  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xiv 

be  natural  and  not  artificial.  It  is  a  transfiguration, 
not  a  transmutation.  The  face,  though  it  shines 
as  the  sun,  is  the  same  face  ;  the  garments,  though 
white  and  glistering,  are  the  garments  with  which 
we  are  familiar.  It  is  a  manifestation  of  the  real 
but  ideal  nature  into  which  the  actual  has  been 
transformed.  The  natural  disposition  is  spiritual- 
ised, the  spiritual  influence  is  naturalised.  New 
organs  are  not  created  for  the  spiritual  man,  the 
rudimentary  organs  of  the  natural  man  are  evolved 
and  perfected.  The  culture  of  the  soul  therefore 
is  not  the  uprooting  of  natural  graces,  but  the 
nurturing  and  perfecting  of  them.  The  wild 
flowers  are  not  destroyed,  they  are  cultivated. 
The  reception  of  the  Divine  Spirit  into  the  heart, 
which  constitutes  the  essence  of  the  religious  life, 
must  not  be  formal  but  natural.  His  presence 
must  deepen  feeling  and  increase  activity.  The 
part  in  the  entertainment  which  we  ofl^er  must  be 
the  one  we  are  naturally  fitted  to  sustain.  The 
guest  feels  most  at  home  when  the  host  is  most 
natural.  The  spiritual  life  is  most  real  when  it  is 
least  artificial. 

The  scene  in  the  home  of  Bethany  is  one  of 
those  unspoken  parables  of  Jesus,  which,  like  His 
spoken  ones,  are  pregnant  with  spiritual  meaning, 
because  they  are  instinct  with  natural  feeling. 
They  illustrate  the  spiritual  by  demonstrating  the 
natural.  He  taught  in  parables,  because  the  parable 
is  the  only  medium  for  the  teaching  He  had  to 


XIV  THE  TWO  SISTERS  1 63 

impart.  We  can  only  arrive  at  the  unknown  by 
means  of  the  known.  We  can  only  understand 
the  mental  by  means  of  the  material,  the  spiritual 
by  means  of  the  natural.  The  eye  must  see  before 
the  mind  can  perceive,  the  ear  must  hear  before 
the  heart  can  understand.  If  the  natural  is  not 
seen,  the  spiritual  cannot  be  perceived.  True 
insight  into  the  one  is  the  perception  of  the  other. 
It  is  only  as  we  understand  the  naturalness  of  the 
reception  of  Jesus  by  the  two  sisters  that  we  under- 
stand the  spiritual  significance  of  the  story.  It 
appeals  to  us  as  a  parable,  because  it  touches  us  as 
a  story.  It  is  because  it  is  so  perfectly  natural 
that  it  is  so  intensely  spiritual. 

One  of  the  most  pathetic  utterances  which 
Christ  ever  made  about  Himself  is  the  single 
reference  to  His  homelessness.  "  The  foxes  have 
holes  and  the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests,  but  the 
Son  of  Man  has  not  where  to  lay  His  head.'' 
Christ  never  had  a  home  of  His  own.  From  the 
time  when  He  left  His  father's  home  in  Nazareth 
where  He  was  brought  up.  He  was  a  wanderer. 
To  all  the  comfort  which  the  word  suggests,  to  all 
the  sacred  joy  associated  with  the  name.  He  was  a 
complete  stranger.  That  His  nature  craved  for 
fellowship  is  evidenced  by  the  references  He  made 
to  His  loneliness,  and  by  His  frequent  communion 
with  the  Father.  That  He  needed  the  quietness 
and  peace  which  others  find  within  the  privacy  of 
their    own    homes    is    proved    by    His    frequent 


1 64  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xiv 

retirements  to  the  solitude  of  the  desert  or  of  the 
mountain.  The  home  at  Bethany  appears  to  have 
been  to  Christ  a  haven  of  rest  and  quiet  calm, 
where  He  sought  refuge  from  the  storms  and 
tumult  to  which  His  Judean  ministry  exposed 
Him.  It  was  a  land-locked  harbour  protected 
from  the  wild  gusts  of  fierce  passion  and  bitter 
malice  which  confronted  Him  as  He  steered  His 
course  amidst  the  angry  billows  and  sunken  rocks 
of  the  neighbouring  Jerusalem.  In  Bethany  there 
was  always  a  home  which  offered  a  loving  welcome, 
and  hearts  which  responded  with  a  sincere  affection. 
Of  Lazarus  little  is  recorded  which  reveals  the 
character  of  the  man,  but  that  Jesus  called  him 
friend  is  full  of  significance,  and  that  He  loved 
him  is  the  highest  testimony  to  his  sterling  worth. 
Of  the  two  sisters,  however,  we  have  speaking 
likenesses.  Their  characters  are  of  that  pronounced 
type  which  is  stamped  on  every  act  and  manifested 
in  every  scene.  In  joy  or  in  sorrow,  at  the  feast 
or  at  the  funeral,  the  individuality  of  each  is 
clearly  marked,  the  position  of  each  is  definitely 
fixed.  Christ  knows  them  perfectly.  He  has  no 
need  to  ask  Mary  where  Martha  is  at  the  time  of 
feasting,  nor  to  ask  Martha  where  Mary  is  at  the 
time  of  mourning.  There  is  the  hall-mark  of 
goodness  on  each  of  them,  but  you  must  look  for 
it  in  the  activity  of  the  one  and  in  the  receptivity 
of  the  other.  The  goodness  of  Martha  will  be 
manifested  in  her  many  duties,  that  of  Mary  in 


XIV  THE  TWO  SISTERS  165 

her  deep  feeling  and  serious  thinking.  They  were 
ideal  sisters,  and  together  took  the  place  of  the 
ideal  wife,  whom  Lazarus  must  have  despaired 
of  finding.  The  one  sister  was  the  complement 
of  the  other  in  the  home  of  Bethany.  Martha 
made  the  home  complete  with  every  comfort, 
Mary  filled  it  with  peace  and  joy.  If  Martha 
was  absent  Lazarus  felt  uneasy,  if  Mary  was  away 
he  was  depressed.  Neither  sister  could  fill  the 
other's  place.  Martha  would  have  made  a  most 
fidgety  Mary,  and  Mary  a  most  unconcerned 
Martha.  The  one  was  a  perfect  head  of  the 
house,  the  other  was  the  heart  of  the  home.  A 
division  of  work  could  never  have  been  discussed 
between  them,  for  it  divided  itself.  Each  instinc- 
tively took  the  part  that  naturally  fell  to  her,  and 
their  united  efforts  made  the  home  at  Bethany  an 
elysium  of  comfort  and  happiness. 

It  was  probably  at  Martha's  suggestion  that  the 
special  feast  was  prepared  with  which  to  welcome 
Jesus  on  one  of  His  periodical  halts  at  their  home. 
It  afforded  her  the  right  opportunity  of  showing 
her  affection  and  esteem  for  her  brother's  honoured 
guest.  She  was  probably  celebrated  for  her  perfect 
entertainments,  and  took  a  just  pride  in  the  satis- 
faction they  invariably  elicited.  For  such  a  house- 
keeper as  Martha  must  have  been,  the  feast  is  the 
chief  way  in  which  she  can  express  her  esteem  for 
her  guest,  and  her  anxiety  to  render  him  a  service. 
That  which  probably  most  appealed  to  Martha  and 


1 66  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xiv 

aroused  her  compassion,  as  she  thought  of  the 
homelessness  of  Jesus,  was  the  absence  of  those 
creature  comforts  which  she  regarded  as  so  essential 
to  her  brother's  welfare.  She  doubtless  listened 
with  interest  to  the  accounts  He  gave  them  of  His 
varied  receptions  at  the  different  towns  and  villages 
He  visited  in  His  journeyings,  but  her  mind  dwelt 
longest  on  the  irregularity  of  His  meals,  and  the 
absence  of  those  little  home  comforts  which  bulked 
so  largely  in  her  housekeeper's  mind.  With  the 
motherly  heart  with  which  every  true  woman  is 
invariably  endowed,  she  pitied  the  wanderer,  and 
resolved  that  as  long  as  He  was  her  guest  He 
should  be  surrounded  with  every  comfort  and 
receive  every  attention.  The  feast  was  but  the 
earnest  of  the  many  good  things  she  had  in  store 
for  Him. 

In  the  best  regulated  households,  however, 
things  do  not  always  go  smoothly.  The  fire, 
despite  the  most  careful  laying,  will  smoke,  the 
watched  pot  will  not  boil,  and  the  unwatched  one 
will  boil  over.  The  best  trained  servants  are 
servants  after  all,  and  the  eye  is  less  keen  and  the 
hand  is  less  steady  than  the  mistress's  own. 
Martha's  eye  cannot  be  in  every  place,  and  even 
Martha  has  but  one  pair  of  hands.  She  has  but 
time  to  give  the  Master  a  hearty  but  hasty 
greeting,  when  a  message  calls  her  back  to  the 
kitchen.  Her  momentary  absence,  however,  has 
been  long  enough  for  something  to  go  wrong.     To 


XIV  THE  TWO  SISTERS  167 

Mary  naturally  falls  the  part  of  entertaining  the 
guest  until  the  feast  is  ready  and  Martha  shall  call 
them  to  take  part  in  the  triumph  of  her  skill. 
While  Mary  is  performing  her  part  as  hostess  in  the 
reception  room,  Martha  is  fully  occupied  between 
the  kitchen  and  the  dining-hall,  in  attending  to 
those  multifarious  details  which  demand  the 
mistress's  personal  attention  and  supervision. 
Suddenly  the  hanging  purdah  which  divides  the 
reception  room  from  the  more  interior  apartments 
of  the  house  is  hastily  pulled  aside,  and  the  flushed 
face  of  the  worried  Martha  arrests  the  flow  of 
conversation,  and  her  querulous  tones  disturb  the 
quiet  of  the  Httle  group  :  "  Master,  do  you  not  care 
that  my  sister  has  left  me  to  attend  to  everything  ? 
Tell  her  to  help  me." 

The  picture  is  a  perfect  photograph  of  the  scene. 
We  can  see  in  the  background  both  the  dining-hall 
and  the  kitchen.  The  hurrying  figures  of  the 
maids  enable  us  to  realise  that  Martha's  anxiety  as 
to  the  feast  being  ready  in  time  is  fully  justified, 
while  we  can  ourselves  see  that  the  tablecloth  is, 
as  Martha  has  just  declared,  not  properly  laid,  and 
the  couches  are  certainly  not  quite  in  line.  Poor 
Martha  !  it  is  this  last  source  of  annoyance  which 
has  been  too  much  for  her,  and  made  her  feel  that 
Mary  might  at  least  have  attended  to  these  matters, 
instead  of  leaving  her  to  do  everything  alone. 
The  many  little  details  to  which  her  anxiety  that 
everything  should  go  off  perfectly  has  called  her 


1 68  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xiv 

attention  have  assumed  larger  proportions  than 
usual.  At  another  time  she  would  have  laughed 
at  the  idea  of  needing  Mary's  help,  but  to-day  her 
over-anxiety  has  affected  the  servants,  and  their 
nervous  solicitude  to  please  has  resulted  in  the 
series  of  mishaps  and  accidents  which  have  brought 
that  look  of  worry  and  helplessness  on  the  face  of  the 
usually  calm  and  collected  Martha.  Mary  is  more 
surprised  at  the  look  on  her  sister's  face  than  at 
the  unusual  words  on  her  lips.  That  Martha 
should  be  unequal  to  her  task  is  a  greater  wonder 
than  that  she  should  complain  of  being  left  alone. 
We  are  more  conscious  of  kinship  through  our 
failures  than  through  our  virtues.  How  perfectly 
human  is  Martha's  unreasonableness,  how  natural 
is  her  resentment.  We  are  quite  ready  to  admit 
that  Mary's  position  is  nearer  to  the  ideal,  but  it  is 
Martha's  with  which  we  fed  the  most  sympathy. 
The  worry  on  Martha's  face  calls  forth  a  deeper 
note  of  sympathy  than  the  wonder  in  Mary's 
eyes. 

There  was  none  of  that  irritability  in  Christ 
which  so  often  characterises  great  men  when  they 
are  interrupted  in  a  conversation.  The  worried 
look  and  the  anxious  face  call  forth  a  compassionate 
sympathy.  He  knows  that  it  is  all  for  His  sake 
that  Martha  has  taken  so  much  trouble  and  tired 
herself  beyond  her  strength.  There  is  a  kindly 
remonstrance  at  such  needless  anxiety,  a  gentle 
hint    that    much    less    would    more    than    suffice. 


XIV  THE  TWO  SISTERS  169 

"  Martha,  Martha,  you  are  putting  yourself  to  far 
too  much  trouble  on  My  account,  and  worrying 
about  so  many  things  in  connection  with  the  feast, 
forgetting  that,  agreeable  and  pleasant  though  it  be, 
it  is  only  a  part  of  the  entertainment  which  this 
kindly  house  provides  for  Me.  The  guest's 
entertainment  is  the  only  thing  that  the  hostess 
need  trouble  about,  and  in  that  entertainment  Mary 
has  chosen  the  part  for  which  she  is  best  fitted,  and 
which  is  therefore  the  best  for  her,  and  she  shall 
not  be  deprived  of  it."  The  delicacy  of  the 
remonstrance  addressed  to  Martha  is  only  equalled 
by  the  chivalrous  defence  of  Mary.  Martha 
retired  to  her  many  duties,  and  Mary  remained  at 
the  feet  of  the  Master,  but  they  both  learned  the 
great  lesson  that  we  serve  best  when  we  do  that 
for  which  we  are  best  fitted,  and  that  we  please 
the  Master  most  when  we  cheerfully  and  gladly 
recognise  the  good  part  which  others  choose  for  the 
expression  of  their  love  and  devotion  to  our  common 
Lord. 


XV 

MARRIAGE    AND    DIVORCE 
Matt.  xix.  3-12  ;  Mark  x.  2-12. 

Is  marriage  a  failure,  is  not  a  modern  question  ; 
it  is  the  discussion  of  the  question  in  the  public 
papers  which  is  the  only  novelty.  Adam  must 
have  asked  the  question  first,  when  he  found  his 
paradise  exchanged  for  the  wilderness,  and  his 
sons  and  daughters  have  been  repeating  the 
question  ever  since.  It  is  one  of  those  questions 
the  discussion  of  which  is  practically  destitute  of 
result.  Whether  the  answer  be  in  the  affirmative 
or  in  the  negative,  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Noah 
so  it  will  continue  in  every  age,  men  will  marry 
and  women  will  be  given  in  marriage,  and  settle 
the  question  for  themselves  by  actual  experiment. 
Though  the  question  is  destitute  of  result  as  far 
as  the  prevention  of  marriage  is  concerned,  it  has 
a  marked  influence  on  the  manner  in  which  the 
marriage  bond  is  regarded.  There  are  some 
sentiments  which  cannot  be  discussed  without 
being  thereby  degraded  ;  there  are  some  instincts 

170 


XV  MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE        171 

which  cannot  be  questioned  without  thereby  being 
imperilled.  When  the  marriage  bond  is  discussed 
as  though  it  were  a  legal  contract,  an  institution 
which  Nature  has  ordained  is  degraded  into  a 
partnership  which  Society  has  recognised.  When 
the  indissoluble  connection  between  the  parents 
is  called  in  question,  the  family  life  is  imperilled. 
It  would  considerably  purify  the  atmosphere  and 
elevate  the  tone  of  society  if  the  essential  dis- 
tinction between  the  ideal  and  the  actual  were 
kept  well  in  view.  The  language  of  the  actual 
can  never  interpret  aright  the  thought  of  the 
ideal.  The  thought  of  the  actual  can  never  be 
accurately  translated  into  the  language  of  the 
ideal.  The  two  are  on  different  planes,  the 
dimensions  of  the  one  cannot  be  applied  to  the 
other.  Marriage  is  an  ideal,  but  there  is  also  an 
actual.  Considerations  which  are  of  supreme 
moment  to  the  one  are  inapplicable  to  the  other. 
Deductions  which  are  legitimate  from  the  one 
are  ruled  out  of  court  in  the  other.  The  idealist 
speaks  gibberish  to  the  actualist,  and  the  actualist 
speaks  jargon  to  the  idealist.  Discussion  there- 
fore is  impossible  between  them.  We  either 
believe  in  the  unseen  ideal  and  look  forward  to 
its  realisation,  or  we  accept  the  actual  and  either 
hope  for  or  despair  of  its  improvement.  It  is  not 
a  different  point  of  view,  but  a  different  power  of 
vision,  which  separates  the  one  from  the  other. 
The  actualist  sees  the  present,  but  is  blind  to  the 


172  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    xv 

future  ;  the  idealist  sees  the  future,  and  disregards 
the  present.  To  the  former  the  actual  is  the  real, 
to  the  latter  the  ideal  is  the  real.  The  question 
between  them  is  not  one  for  argument,  it  is  one 
of  individual  choice.  Having  made  their  choice 
they  henceforth  live  on  different  planes  and  talk 
a  different  language. 

It  is  said  that  experience  confers  the  right  to 
speak  and  inexperience  imposes  the  obligation  to 
keep  silence.  This,  however,  is  one  of  those 
maxims  which  are  only  half  truths.  It  is 
applicable  on  the  plane  of  the  actual,  but  not  on 
the  plane  of  the  ideal.  Insight  gives  a  greater 
right  to  speak  than  experience.  The  man  who 
can  see  is  as  great  an  authority  at  least  as  the  man 
who  can  only  feel.  Christ  had  no  experience  of 
married  life,  yet  He  was  consulted  on  the  question 
of  divorce.  His  pronouncement  is  not  based 
upon  experience,  yet  it  is  full  of  true  insight. 
The  Pharisees  who  came  to  Him  with  this 
question  of  divorce  were  as  usual  inspired  with 
the  wish  to  entrap  the  Teacher,  rather  than  to  be 
enlightened  by  Him.  Probably  the  fate  of  John 
the  Baptist  was  in  their  minds,  and  they  took 
advantage  of  the  presence  of  Christ  in  Herod's 
dominions  to  involve  Him  in  pronouncing  a 
similar  condemnation  of  the  king's  immorality. 
They  concealed  their  real  object,  however,  by 
asking  the  question  of  the  schools  —  May  a 
husband    on    any    account   divorce    his   wife  ?     It 


XV         MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE         173 

was  a  question  upon  which  Rabbinical  opinion  was 
divided  into  two  hostile  camps,  so  that  even  if 
He  avoided  the  political  danger  by  an  affirmative 
answer,  He  would  incur  the  enmity  of  the  stricter 
and  more  religious  section  of  the  community. 

Christ  is  indifferent  to  all  such  considerations. 
He  answers  the  question  as  though  He  had  been 
asked  in  perfect  sincerity.  He  was  familiar  with 
the  looseness  with  which  the  marriage  bond  was 
regarded,  and  His  desire  to  impart  truer  ideas 
was  greater  than  any  wish  to  escape  personal 
danger.  His  answer  is  the  answer  of  the  idealist. 
He  ignores  the  actual,  and  points  to  the  ideal  as 
alone  furnishing  the  true  conception  of  the 
institution.  He  goes  beyond  the  Law  of  Moses, 
around  which  the  discussion  in  the  schools 
centred,  to  the  law  of  Him  who  made  man  and 
constituted  him  as  he  is.  The  bond  is  not  a 
social  union,  it  is  a  natural  institution.  It  must 
be  interpreted,  not  by  man's  custom,  but  by  his 
constitution.  "  Have  you  not  read,"  He  answers, 
*'  that  He  who  made  man,  made  him  from  the 
very  beginning  not  single  but  double,  two  halves 
of  one  whole.  Moreover,"  He  said  further, 
"  that  for  that  very  reason  a  man  shall  leave  his 
father  and  his  mother  and  be  united  to  his  wife, 
and  the  two  halves  shall  become  one  whole. 
They  are  therefore  no  longer  two,  but  one. 
What  therefore  God  has  united,  let  not  man 
separate."     Man  and  woman  are  not  two  wholes, 


174  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    xv 

but  complements  of  one  unity,  and  marriage  is  the 
completion  of  the  prophecy,  the  realisation  of  the 
ideal.  The  completion  of  the  union  is  a  new  life 
from  which  new  relationships  arise.  No  law  can 
annul  the  relationships  to  which  marriage  gives 
rise.  The  son  is  for  ever  a  son,  the  daughter 
for  ever  a  daughter.  It  is  because  the  relation- 
ships to  which  marriage  gives  rise  are  unalterable 
that  the  bond  is  indissoluble.  Marriage  is  the 
establishment  of  a  new  family,  and  on  that 
account  the  man  leaves  his  father  and  his  mother, 
and  in  union  with  his  wife  establishes  a  new  home, 
a  fresh  centre  of  family  life.  Nature  looks  to 
the  welfare  of  the  race,  and  her  institutions  must 
be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  the  goal  she  has 
fixed  her  eye  upon.  The  union  of  man  and 
woman  is  not  therefore  the  establishment  of  a 
partnership,  it  is  the  institution  of  a  relationship, 
and  once  instituted  it  cannot  be  dissolved.  The 
union  has  been  foreseen  and  provided  for  in  the 
constitution  of  man's  being,  and  once  consum- 
mated no  human  law  can  dissolve  it.  In  marriage 
fancy  has  been  translated  into  fact,  and  the  fact 
abides  however  much  the  fancy  may  change. 
Law  can  recognise  facts,  but  it  cannot  alter  them. 
On  the  plane  of  the  actual  the  childless  marriage 
may  seem  to  be  a  less  real  union,  but  on  the  plane 
of  the  ideal  the  union  is  just  as  real.  The  new 
relationships  to  which  marriage  gives  rise  are 
derived     from     the    original    relationship    which 


XV  MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE        175 

marriage  institutes.  The  derivative  may  confirm 
the  original,  but  its  absence  cannot  annul  it.  On 
the  plane  of  the  ideal  the  relationship  of  the  wife 
to  the  husband  and  the  husband  to  the  wife  which 
their  union  has  constituted  is  no  less  sacred  and 
real  though  no  new  relationships  are  derived 
from  it. 

Christ's  method  of  dealing  with  the  question 
is  entirely  different  from  anything  which  the 
Pharisees  had  anticipated.  All  their  discussion 
gathered  round  the  interpretation  of  legal 
phraseology,  the  exposition  of  the  Law  of  Moses. 
They  find  themselves  suddenly  referred  to  the 
law  written  by  the  finger  of  God  in  man's  con- 
stitution, instead  of  to  the  law  written  by  the 
fingers  of  Moses.  The  question  is  not  decided 
on  the  lines  of  the  permissible,  but  on  the  lines 
of  the  possible.  The  question  is  not.  May  a 
man  divorce  his  wife,  but.  Can  he,  and  the  answer 
is  the  one  word,  Impossible.  God  has  joined 
them  together  and  man  cannot  separate  them. 
The  entry  has  been  made  in  the  Court  of  Nature, 
and  no  Court  of  Law  can  erase  it.  The  Pharisees 
are  nonplussed  at  the  nature  of  the  reply.  They 
are  surprised,  but  they  quickly  perceive  that  it 
gives  them  a  better  opportunity  than  they 
expected.  It  brings  Him  into  opposition,  not  to 
one  of  the  schools  of  the  Rabbis  but  to  both,  not 
merely  to  Herod's  act  but  also  to  Moses'  Law. 
"Why  then,"  they  ask,  returning  to  the  purpose 


176  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    xv 

with  which  they  had  first  put  the  question,  ''  did 
Moses  command  the  husband  to  give  his  wife  a 
written  document  of  divorce,  and  so  put  his  wife 
away  ?  " 

The  true  significance  of  Christ's  answer  is 
frequently  lost  sight  of,  and  its  bearing  on  the 
question  of  inspiration  is  almost  entirely  ignored. 
It  is  impossible,  however,  in  the  face  of  His  answer 
to  this  apparent  conflict  between  one  part  of 
Scripture  and  another,  to  avoid  believing  that 
Christ  recognised  what  in  these  days  we  are 
accustomed  to  call  the  progressiveness  of  revela- 
tion, and  a  difference  in  the  degree  of  inspiration. 
**  On  account  of  the  stubbornness  of  human  nature, 
and  the  hardheartedness  of  men,  Moses  permitted 
the  putting  away  of  the  wife,  but  the  conception 
of  divorce  is  not  contained  in  the  initial  institution 
of  marriage."  Revelation  must  of  necessity  be 
adapted  to  the  capacity  of  the  hearer.  Legislation 
cannot  be  too  far  in  advance  of  the  age.  In 
judging  of  Scripture  due  regard  must  be  paid  to 
the  time  and  the  circumstances  in  which  it  was 
produced.  Language  itself  is  not  in  advance  of 
human  nature,  it  grows  with  its  growth  and  is 
refined  with  its  refinement.  Moses  dealt  with  the 
actual,  and  sought  to  raise  it  in  the  direction  of  the 
ideal  which  man's  constitution  prophesies.  He 
had  to  deal  with  men  who  were  more  akin  to  the 
animal  than  the  spiritual.  In  the  interest  of  the 
too  easily  and   too   frequently  discarded  wife,  he 


XV  MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE         177 

sought  to  replace  desertion  by  a  formal  divorce,  to 
substitute  law  for  anarchy.  He  sought,  that  is,  to 
regulate  what  he  could  not  forbid.  He  had  to 
speak  in  a  language  which  was  adapted  to  the  low 
attainments  of  his  people.  His  authority  was 
over  the  actual,  not  over  the  ideal.  Marriage, 
however,  is  an  ideal,  and  its  true  nature  must  be 
sought,  not  in  human  institutes,  but  in  the  divine 
constitution  of  man's  nature.  That  ideal  relation 
makes  no  provision  for  divorce.  Legislation  may 
substitute  divorce  for  desertion,  but  it  has  no 
authority  to  change  the  marriage  bond  into  a  social 
contract.  The  actual  may  be  elevated  in  the 
direction  of  the  ideal,  but  the  ideal  cannot  be 
lowered  in  the  direction  of  the  actual.  Of  the 
two  evils,  desertion  and  divorce,  the  latter  may  be 
the  less,  but  it  is  still  an  evil  and  not  a  good. 
There  is  always  an  appeal  from  man's  perception 
to  God's  conception, — "  It  has  not  been  so  from 
the  beginning."  The  improvement  in  the  actual 
which  Moses  enjoined  cannot  take  the  place  of  the 
ideal  which  God  enacted.  That  they  may  be 
under  no  doubt  as  to  His  view  of  the  question 
they  have  brought  forward,  Christ  proceeds  to  give 
a  categorical  denial  of  the  rightness  of  divorce. 
''  I  say  definitely,"  He  goes  on  to  say,  "  that  who- 
ever puts  away  his  wife,  for  any  reason  except  that 
of  her  unfaithfulness,  and  marries  another  woman, 
commits  adultery."  The  ceremony  does  not  alter 
the  facts,  it  can  do  nothing  more  than  recognise 


178  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST   xv 

them.  The  first  ceremony  simply  recognised  that 
the  two  are  one,  a  second  ceremony  cannot  alter 
that  fact.  The  only  fact  which  the  second  ceremony 
recognises  is  that  the  married  party  is  living  with 
another.  To  the  actualist  such  a  statement  may 
seem  fanciful,  to  the  idealist  it  is  actual  fact.  The 
Pharisees  retired  to  make  what  use  they  might  of 
the  answer  they  had  received.  They  had  not  come 
to  learn,  and  therefore  the  lesson  made  no  im- 
pression upon  them.  With  the  disciples,  however, 
it  is  different,  and  they  turn  the  matter  over  in 
their  minds  as  they  follow  their  Master  home. 

In  the  privacy  of  the  house  they  give  expression 
to  the  conclusion  at  which  they  have  arrived.  "  If 
this  is  the  true  nature  of  the  marriage  relationship, 
they  say,  it  is  surely  better  not  to  marry  at  all." 
The  ideal  is  so  high  as  to  be  unattainable,  and 
therefore  it  is  prohibitive.  If,  while  human  nature 
is  what  it  is,  divorce  is  not  permissible,  then  in 
their  judgment  marriage  is  impossible.  This  is 
ever  the  reply  of  the  actualist  when  confronted 
with  the  ideal.  *'  True  but  impracticable,  beautiful 
but  unattainable."  It  is  but  a  step  to  the  rejection 
of  the  ideal  and  the  acceptance  of  the  actual. 
Marriage  as  an  ideal  would  doubtless  be  a  success, 
but  marriage  as  an  actual  is  frequently  a  failure. 
Theory  is  one  thing,  but  practice  is  another. 
Divorce  may  be  theoretically  wrong,  but  it  is 
practically  necessary.  If  it  is  not  right  it  is  at 
least  expedient.      This  step  at  which  the  disciples 


XV  MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE         179 

hesitated,  the  world  has  no  scruples  in  taking. 
It  fails  to  see  that  if  marriage  is  a  failure,  divorce 
is  no  remedy.  Acquiescence  in  the  actual  never 
leads  or  can  lead  to  the  acquisition  of  the  ideal. 
Facilities  for  divorce  are  not  likely  to  make 
marriage  a  success.  To  betray  the  ideal  by 
enthroning  the  actual,  is  not  the  method  to  secure 
its  realisation.  We  may  recognise  and  acknow- 
ledge that  we  are  unequal  to  the  attainment,  but 
we  have  no  right  to  make  the  measure  of  our 
attainment  the  standard  of  the  ideal.  Neither 
Moses  nor  any  other  legislator  can  alter  man's 
constitution,  he  can  but  regulate  human  conduct. 
The  true  conception  of  the  marriage  relation, 
however,  must  be  Jooked  for,  not  amongst  human 
customs,  but  in  human  nature,  as  that  has  been 
constituted  by  its  Creator.  The  goal  which 
evolution  has  in  view,  and  not  merely  the  stage  at 
which  she  has  arrived,  must  be  taken  into  account 
if  we  would  work  in  harmony  with  Nature's 
laws. 

Christ  remains  the  idealist  in  the  face  of  the 
actual.  He  recognises,  however,  the  weakness  of 
human  nature,  though  He  does  not  acquiesce  in 
it.  *'  It  is  not  every  one,"  He  says  in  reply  to  the 
remark  of  the  disciples,  "  who  can  make  room  in 
his  thought  for  such  an  ideal,  but  only  those  on 
whom  special  grace  has  been  bestowed."  To 
follow  the  ideal,  to  refuse  to  accept  the  actual,  to 
sacrifice  oneself  for  the  sake  of  the  ideal, — these  are 


i8o  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    xv 

not  signs  of  the  generality,  they  are  the  hall-mark 
of  the  elect.  There  are  some  cases  of  abstinence 
from  marriage,  the  explanation  of  which  is  not 
to  be  sought  either  in  lack  of  inclination  or  in 
deficiency  of  feeling,  but  in  the  intense  devotion 
to  the  ideal,  which  appears  incapable  of  realisation. 
Let  the  man  who  has  perceived  the  ideal  retain  it. 
Let  the  man  who  sees  that  from  its  very  nature 
marriage  is  an  indissoluble  bond  refuse  to  entertain 
the  conception  of  divorce.  If  in  his  case  marriage 
has  proved  a  failure,  let  him  not  look  to  divorce 
to  make  it  a  success.  For  the  sake  of  upholding 
the  ideal,  let  him  refuse  at  all  costs  to  stoop  to 
the  actual.  The  sacredness  of  family  life,  which 
divorce  destroys,  is  of  more  consequence  than  the 
satisfaction  of  personal  inclination,  for  which  it  is 
intended  to  provide.  A  desolate  home  is  preferable 
to  a  desertion  of  the  ideal.  To  the  idealist  no 
sacrifice  is  too  great  which  preserves  the  ideal,  no 
gratification  will  satisfy  which  sacrifices  it. 

The  disciples  doubtless  felt  that  this  was  a  hard 
saying, — Who  could  bear  it  ^  The  world  feels 
that  it  is  an  impossible  saying  and  rejects  it. 
Time,  however,  is  always  on  the  side  of  the  ideal, 
and  history  is  a  persistent  condemnation  of  the 
actual.  Legislation  which  provides  facilities  for 
divorce  inevitably  lowers  the  conception  of  the 
marriage  relationship,  and  thereby  tends  to  produce 
the  failure  it  has  anticipated.  The  offered  remedy, 
instead     of    preventing,     increases     the     disease. 


XV  MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE         i8i 

Divorce  is  no  remedy  ;  it  is  the  publication  of 
failure,  and  the  destruction  of  the  last  hope  of 
success.  It  does  not,  however,  merely  indicate 
the  failure  of  the  parties  concerned,  it  stamps 
every  marriage  with  the  mark  of  a  licensed  partner- 
ship. It  brands  with  the  stigma  of  a  temporary 
connection  that  which  is  essentially  a  permanent 
union.  It  sacrifices  the  welfare  of  the  race  for  the 
sake  of  the  individual,  the  sacredness  of  family  life 
for  personal  gratification.  Christ  recognises  the 
hardship  which  may  be  inflicted  upon  the  indi- 
vidual ;  He  does  not  minimise  the  sacrifice  which 
the  ideal  demands,  but  He  appeals  to  the  sanctity 
of  the  ideal,  and  to  the  idealist  the  appeal  is  never 
in  vain. 


XVI 

SACRIFICE    AN    ESSENTIAL    TO    COMPLETENESS 
Matt.  xix.  16-30  ;  Mark  x.  17-22  5  Luke  xviii.  18-30. 

There  is  a  type  of  character  which  presents  all  the 
appearance  of  excellence,  and  possesses  qualities 
which  are  in  every  respect  admirable,  but  which 
nevertheless  fails  to  win  the  confidence  and  approval 
to  which  it  seems  entitled.  We  can  find  nothing 
upon  which  we  can  fasten  to  account  for  the 
impression  produced,  there  is  no  definite  trait 
which  calls  forth  our  aversion,  yet  we  have  the 
feeling  that  the  face  value  is  not  the  real  value. 
We  do  not  for  a  moment  suspect  any  hypocrisy, 
for  there  is  an  evident  sincerity  which  impresses 
us  with  the  sense  of  reality.  We  are  not  conscious 
even  of  any  particular  defect  which  would  account 
for  the  feeling  we  entertain,  and  yet  we  have  a 
suspicion  that  something  is  needed  to  give  warmth 
and  colour  to  what  we  instinctively  feel  to  be 
beautiful  but  cold,  real  but  not  deep,  genuine  but 
not  complete.  It  is  like  the  coin  which  we  can 
easily   distinguish   from   the    counterfeit,   and    yet 

182 


XVI  SACRIFICE  ESSENTIAL  183 

which  for  some  reason  or  other  does  not  ring  true. 
There  is  a  flaw  somewhere  we  know,  but  we  can- 
not detect  it ;  there  is  something  lacking,  but  we 
cannot  say  what.  Such  characters  will  pass  for 
years  with  the  flaw  unknown  to  themselves  and 
unperceived  by  others.  Some  crisis  in  their  own 
lives,  or  the  keener  insight  of  a  greater  soul,  is 
needed  to  reveal  the  defect.  The  young  ruler  who 
sought  an  interview  with  Christ  was  a  character  of 
this  type. 

He  was  a  man  of  wealth,  for  he  had  great 
possessions  ;  he  was  a  man  of  position,  for  he  was 
a  ruler  of  the  Jews.  His  private  and  public 
character  were  beyond  reproach,  for  he  had  kept 
the  commandments  from  his  youth  up.  He  had 
the  attractiveness  of  genuine  worth  which  calls 
forth  affection,  for  when  Jesus  saw  him  He  loved 
him.  Despite  his  excellences,  however,  he  was 
dissatisfied,  and  of  too  earnest  a  disposition  to  rest 
content  with  anything  short  of  the  highest.  He 
felt  that  there  was  a  life  richer  than  he  possessed, 
an  inheritance  with  a  more  lasting  tenure  than  that 
which  had  come  to  him  from  his  ancestors,  a 
satisfaction  deeper  and  more  abiding  than  any  he 
had  as  yet  obtained.  Kindred  souls  are  mutually 
attracted,  and  the  love  which  Christ  felt  for  the 
young  ruler  was  the  response  of  the  heart  of  Christ 
to  the  young  man's  love  for  Himself.  The 
Prophet  of  Nazareth  had  won  the  affection  and 
secured  the  enthusiastic  admiration  of  the  young 


1 84  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xvi 

ruler  of  the  Jews.  The  impulsiveness  of  youth 
and  the  enthusiasm  of  the  ardent  admirer  are  both 
evidenced  in  the  manner  of  his  approach.  His 
eagerness  overpowers  his  sense  of  personal  dignity, 
and  he  comes  running  to  the  place  of  meeting. 
His  warm  admiration  for  the  Prophet  of  God 
makes  him  oblivious  of  the  esteem  to  which  he 
was  accustomed  from  his  official  position,  and  he 
kneels  at  the  feet  of  Jesus. 

A  question  often  throws  as  much  light  upon 
the  pupiFs  character  as  it  does  upon  his  style  of 
thinking,  and  this  is  especially  the  case  with  a 
moral  or  spiritual  question.  The  same  question 
may  be  asked  with  very  different  motives,  and 
may  betray  a  very  different  type  of  mind.  A 
different  answer  is  demanded  according  to  the 
character  of  the  questioner.  The  expert  physician 
often  gains  as  much,  or  even  more,  from  his 
patient's  manner  of  describing  his  symptoms  than 
he  does  from  the  description  itself.  The  teacher 
will  more  often  understand  his  pupil's  difficulty 
by  taking  notice  of  the  terms  in  which  he  states 
it  than  from  the  statement  itself.  "  Good  Rabbi, 
what  good  thing  shall  I  do  that  I  may  inherit 
eternal  life  ?''  A  man's  adjectives  are  often  more 
characteristic  than  his  nouns.  His  verbs  are 
more  significant  than  his  substantives.  His  nouns 
are  names  for  common  objects  which  he  is  more 
or  less  forced  to  use ;  his  adjectives  are  the 
distinguishing   marks    he   places  upon   them,   and 


XVI  SACRIFICE  ESSENTIAL  185 

reveal  his  individuality.  His  substantives  are  the 
pieces  on  the  chess-board,  his  verbs  are  the 
movements  he  effects  with  them  and  reveal  the 
thought  which  directs  them.  "  Good  Rabbi,  what 
good  thing  shall  I  do  that  I  may  inherit  eternal 
life.^"  The  adjective  is  significant,  its  repetition 
is  suggestive.  The  verb  is  indicative  of  the  man. 
The  adjective  is  evidently  a  favourite  and  familiar 
word,  it  is  applied  indiscriminately  to  persons  and 
things.  Familiarity,  however,  docs  not  necessarily 
imply  intimacy,  and  the  indiscriminate  use  of  a 
word  generally  denotes  an  indifferent  acquaintance 
with  its  meaning.  There  is  the  suggestion  of  a 
superficial  knowledge  of  men  in  the  phrase.  Good 
Rabbi,  which  is  characteristic  of  a  man  who  has 
no  deep  insight  into  character,  and  there  is  the 
indication  of  a  shallowness  of  thought  in  the 
conception  of  some  good  thing  to  be  done  to 
obtain  the  life  he  needs,  which  betrays  very  little 
acquaintance  with  the  deeper  meaning  of  the 
eternal  life  he  seeks.  The  verb,  inherit,  similarly 
points  out  the  inadequacy  of  his  conception,  and 
betrays  the  man  to  whom  much  has  been  given, 
but  from  whom  as  yet  little  has  been  required. 
His  conception  of  the  moral  ideal  must  be 
deepened  if  he  is  to  become  conscious  of  the  lack 
in  his  nature.  His  mind  must  be  turned  from 
the  thought  of  some  definite  thing  to  be  accom- 
plished which  will  secure  for  him  a  great  inherit- 
ance, if  he  is  to  enter  upon  the  deeper  and  higher 


1 86  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xvi 

life  for  which  he  craves.  It  is  the  perception  of 
the  relation  of  the  good  to  God  which  transforms 
morality  into  religion;  it  is  the  possession  of  a 
spirit,  not  the  performance  of  an  act,  which 
enriches  a  man  with  the  life  which  is  eternal. 

Christ's  answer  is  intended  to  direct  the  young 
man's  attention  to  the  true  source  of  that  higher 
life  which  he  seeks,  and  to  correct  his  mistaken 
conception  of  the  means  by  which  it  is  to  be 
obtained.  His  conception  of  the  good  is  very 
little  more  than  that  of  a  kindly  disposition,  a 
well-meaning  intention.  He  has  the  surface 
knowledge  which  is  associated  with  the  adjective, 
not  the  deeper  knowledge  involved  in  the  noun. 
He  means  nothing  by  the  expression.  Good 
Rabbi,  beyond  ordinary  politeness ;  he  has  no 
greater  conception  in  the  use  of  the  term,  good 
thing,  than  some  act  of  kindness  which  one  in 
his  position  and  with  his  wealth  can  easily 
accomplish.  **  Why,"  asks  Christ  in  reply,  "  do 
you  attach  the  adjective  to  the  noun .?  Why  do 
you  call  me  Good  Rabbi  ?  What  does  the  term 
signify  to  you,  what  value  do  you  attach  to  the 
conception  of  the  Good  ?  There  is  none  good 
but  One,  even  God.  The  Good  is  a  much 
bigger  conception  than  you  have  yet  realised. 
In  its  perfection  it  is  found  only  in  God,  and  the 
only  substantive  to  which  the  adjective  can  be 
rightly  attached  is  God.  Though  it  is  a  common 
word    in    your    vocabulary,    you    have    not    yet 


XVI  SACRIFICE  ESSENTIAL  187 

grasped  its  meaning.  The  kindly  disposition  and 
the  well-meaning  intention  which  have  been  the 
characteristics  of  your  nature  must  have  deeper 
roots  if  they  are  to  develop  into  that  moral  and 
spiritual  life  which  you  are  seeking.  In  the  same 
way  you  are  too  familiar  with  the  idea  of  acquisi- 
tion by  means  of  inheritance.  You  are  not 
sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  only  true  method 
of  obtaining  possession  by  personal  effort.  Put 
your  ideas  to  the  test.  You  think  life  eternal 
can  be  gained  by  the  performance  of  some  definite 
action  ;  well,  you  are  acquainted  with  the  com- 
mandments— what  more  do  you  want.^^  If  the 
deeper  life  you  crave  is  to  be  obtained  in  the  way 
you  suppose,  the  decalogue  furnishes  you  with 
not  one,  but  many  good  actions,  which  you  can 
do."  Christ's  answer  is  intended  to  enable  the  man 
to  see  that  his  thought  is  not  deep  enough,  his 
apprehension  is  not  keen  enough,  nor  his  life 
strenuous  enough  for  the  task  which  lies  before 
him.  The  teacher's  work  is  to  stimulate  thought 
rather  than  to  furnish  it,  to  enable  the  pupil  to 
see  his  mistake  for  himself,  not  merely  to  tell  him 
he  is  wrong.  Deeply  rooted  in  the  man's  mind 
is  the  idea  that  the  richer  life  of  whose  need  he 
is  dimly  conscious  can  be  gained  as  easily  as  his 
own  possessions  have  come  to  him,  or  with  the 
exercise  of  as  little  effort  as  he  has  hitherto  been 
accustomed  to  put  forth.  Of  great  wealth  and 
occupying  a  good  position,  life  has  been  easy  for 


i88  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xvi 

him,  and  has  made  no  demands  upon  him.  He 
is  conscious  that  something  is  lacking,  but  he 
thinks  that  all  he  needs  to  know  is  the  secret  by 
which  it  can  be  obtained  and  the  rest  will  be 
easy. 

He  seizes  with  avidity  the  reference  in  Christ's 
answer  to  the  commandments.  He  thinks  that 
more  than  half  the  task  is  accomplished.  Eagerly 
and  joyfully  he  replies,  *'  All  these  have  I  kept 
from  my  youth  up  ;  what  lack  I  yet  ? "  If  the 
path  lies  in  that  direction,  then  he  is  familiar  with 
it,  and  in  fact  has  already  gone  a  very  long  way 
on  the  road.  He  is  conscious,  however,  that  it 
has  not  yielded  the  entire  satisfaction  he  needs, 
something  additional  is  needed.  There  is  some 
one  thing  more  which  has  to  be  done  and  the 
prize  is  his. 

There  is  a  charm  about  youthful  enthusiasm, 
and  a  fascination  in  the  eagerness  with  which  the 
young  anticipate  the  future,  confident  in  their 
ability  for  great  tasks,  which  cannot  fail  to  call 
forth  our  love  and  sympathy,  even  though  we 
may  fear  the  result  of  the  trial  which  awaits  them. 
There  was  a  winsomeness  about  the  young  ruler's 
face  and  a  sincerity  in  his  manner  which  appealed 
to  Christ,  and  looking  into  the  upturned  face 
radiant  with  hope  and  glowing  with  enthusiasm. 
His  heart  went  out  to  him.  There  is  a  kindly 
smile  of  approval  on  the  face,  but  a  touch  of 
sadness  in  the  voice,  as  Christ  replies,  "  One  thing 


XVI  SACRIFICE  ESSENTIAL  189 

is  wanting  to  complete  your  character.  If  you 
wish  to  be  complete,  go  and  sell  all  you  possess, 
and  distribute  your  wealth  among  the  poor,  and 
you  shall  have  treasure  in  heaven ;  and  then 
come  and  follow  Me."  There  was  the  outline  of 
a  noble  character,  but  one  thing  was  missing  to 
complete  the  picture  and  give  it  the  warmth  and 
colour  of  life.  The  features  were  perfect  and 
beautifully  outlined,  but  the  eyes  lacked  depth 
and  the  mouth  needed  firmness.  The  convictions 
were  right,  but  they  were  not  deeply  rooted  ;  the 
disposition  was  excellent,  but  it  needed  fixing ; 
the  desires  were  praiseworthy,  but  they  wanted 
transforming  into  passions  of  the  soul.  "No 
heart  is  pure  that  is  not  passionate  ;  no  virtue  is 
safe  that  is  not  enthusiastic.'*  What  the  man 
needed  to  complete  his  character  was  a  great 
consuming  passion  ;  what  he  required  to  develop 
the  intrinsic  goodness  of  his  nature  was  a  self- 
abandonment.  The  depths  of  his  nature  had 
never  been  stirred,  his  hidden  resources  had  never 
been  called  forth.  Life  had  made  no  demands 
upon  him,  his  soul  had  never  been  thrilled  by  the 
appeal  of  some  high  deed  or  noble  cause.  The 
even  tenor  of  his  life  had  never  been  disturbed  by 
either  a  great  temptation  or  a  great  misfortune. 
His  virtue  was  a  disposition  of  the  mind,  not  a 
conviction  of  the  soul ;  his  freedom  from  vice 
was  rather  the  result  of  inertia,  than  of  the 
controlling  force  of  the  passion  for  righteousness. 


I90  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xvi 

There    was    something    lacking    to    complete    his 
nature.     Something  was  needed  to  give  direction 
to  his  life   and   decision  to    his   character.       His 
bosom    was    a    lake    whose    surface    had    known 
nothing  but  the  ripples  of  the  soft  zephyr.     The 
eiFect  of  the  lashing  of  a  great  storm  of  passion, 
whether  for  good  or  ill,  was  an  unknown  quantity. 
A  sudden  temptation  which  stirred  the  depths  of 
his  being,  or  a  mighty  passion  which  enraptured 
his    soul,   might    either    mar    or    make   the   man. 
With    a    divine    compassion    and    the    tenderest 
solicitude   for    the    young    man's    moral    welfare, 
Christ  offers  him  the  ministry  of  a  great  sacrifice, 
and    the    saving    influence    of    a    great    devotion. 
''Sell  all  you  possess,  and  come  and  follow  Me." 
Inherited  wealth  had  made  life  too  easy  for  him, 
and    prevented     the     discovery    of    the     hidden 
resources  and  capabilities  of  his  nature.      Affluence 
had  made  it  easy  for  him  to  love  his  neighbour,  if 
not  as  much  as  himself,  at  least  as  well  as  himself, 
and    the  distribution   of  a    generous   charity  had 
satisfied  his  sense  of  responsibility  for  his  fellows. 
He  needed  to  realise  that  goodness  means  more 
than  good-nature,  and  that  the  service  of  man  is 
more  than  almsgiving.     His  life  hitherto  had  been 
aimless  and  purposeless,  inclination  had  been  his 
only    leader.     He   needed    an    all-absorbing    aim, 
and    a    leader    who    secured    an    all -compelling 
devotion.     It  was  no  mere  increase  in  almsgiving 
which  Christ  recommended  ;  it  was  the  renuncia- 


XVI  SACRIFICE  ESSENTIAL  191 

tion  of  all  adventitious  aids  which  he  demanded. 
In  mere  almsgiving  there  was  no  virtue  by  means 
of  which  he  might  expect  to  obtain  as  a  reward 
the  life  that  was  life  indeed,  but  in  the  renuncia- 
tion of  all  that  he  possessed  there  was  a  determina- 
tion of  character  which  would  inevitably  produce 
that  deepening  of  his  life  which  is  the  prophecy 
of  its  continuance  and  permanence.  The  call  to 
forsake  the  settled  and  ordered  life  to  which  he 
had  been  accustomed,  and  take  up  the  wandering 
life  of  an  itinerant,  was  not  an  intensification  of 
the  aimless  wandering  of  inclination,  the  life  of  a 
mere  Bohemian  ;  it  was  the  persistent  following  of 
an  ideal,  the  passionate  devotion  of  a  pupil  to  a 
Great  Master. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  the  call  found  him  unpre- 
pared, that  the  demand  was  more  than  he  felt  able 
to  supply.  The  one  thing  which  he  was  to  do 
proved  to  be  an  endless  labour,  the  acquisition  of 
the  inheritance  was  a  life-long  task.  The  eager 
look  passed  from  his  face,  and  the  shadow  of  a 
great  disappointment  darkened  his  brow.  For  the 
first  time  he  found  his  resources  insuflicient  to 
secure  the  object  of  his  desire.  He  discovered 
that  there  were  some  things  which  money,  however 
plentiful,  could  not  buy  ;  that  there  were  possessions 
which  could  not  be  inherited,  but  must  be  earned. 
He  turned  away  sorrowful,  for  he  had  great 
possessions.  The  great  testing  had  come,  the 
clouds  which  portended  a  great  storm  had  already 


192  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xvi 

gathered,  and  soon  the  placid  bosom  of  the  lake 
would  be  heaving  and  swelling  under  the  stress 
and  strain  of  a  mighty  tempest.  He  would  never 
be  the  same  man  again.  The  depths  of  his  nature 
had  at  last  been  stirred,  and  the  effect  of  the  storm 
must  give  him  a  deeper  peace  than  he  had  ever 
known  before,  or  intensify  the  unrest  which  he 
had  already  experienced.  He  goes  away  sorrowful 
but  not  resentful,  disappointed  but  not  affronted. 
The  struggle  must  take  place  alone,  the  decision 
must  be  his  own.  With  intense  sympathy,  but 
with  a  hopeful  anticipation,  Christ  follows  him 
with  a  look  of  love,  and  turning  to  the  disciples, 
gives  expression  to  both  His  sympathy  and  His 
hope  in  the  words,  "  With  how  hard  a  struggle 
will  the  possessors  of  wealth  enter  the  kingdom  of 
God.'*  The  little  barque  is  in  the  grip  of  a 
mighty  storm,  but  its  timbers  are  sound,  and 
though  the  struggle  will  leave  its  marks  upon  hull 
and  rigging,  it  will  reach  its  desired  haven  at  last. 


XVII 

AN    AMBITIOUS    MOTHER 
Matt.  XX.  20-28  ;  Mark  x.  35-45. 

The  true  difference  between  seeing  and  believing 
is  not  that  of  knowledge  as  contrasted  with 
imagination,  it  is  the  difference  between  sight  and 
insight.  Seeing  is  believing,  is  not  a  definition 
but  a  sarcasm,  to  which  the  appropriate  retort  is 
the  counter  assertion,  believing  is  seeing.  A  truer 
definition  would  be  that  seeing  is  the  perception 
of  the  real,  while  believing  is  the  perception  of  the 
ideal.  Sight  presents  us  with  the  actual,  faith  with 
the  ideal.  Sight  gives  us  a  photograph  of  the 
building  operations,  with  no  more  of  the  edifice 
than  has  been  actually  completed.  Faith  gives  us 
the  plan  and  sections  and  elevations  of  the 
architect's  drawing.  If  the  drawing  were  never 
made,  the  building  would  never  be  erected.  If 
there  were  no  idealisation  by  the  mind  of  man, 
there  would  be  no  realisation  by  the  hand  of  man. 
Faith  in  man  is  not  a  new  creation,  it  is  an  evolu- 
tion.    Nature  herself  is  as  much  an  idealist  as 

193  O 


194  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xvii 

man.  She  also  plans  before  she  builds,  designs 
before  she  constructs.  She  starts  all  her  children 
in  life  with  a  plan  of  the  work  she  expects  from 
them  ;  while  to  the  more  intelligent  she  gives  a 
sight  of  the  ideal, — that  insight  into  her  larger 
purposes  which  inspires  them  to  strive  for  a  higher 
and  richer  life.  The  theory  of  evolution  has  not 
changed  our  various  positions,  it  has  simply  cleared 
away  some  of  the  mists  by  which  we  were  sur- 
rounded. The  Materialist  is  a  Materialist  still,  and 
the  Idealist  is  an  Idealist  still.  It  has  not  given 
faith  to  the  man  who  had  none,  nor  has  it  taken 
the  faith  away  from  the  man  who  had.  Each 
looks  out  upon  the  world  from  his  own  hill-top, 
corrects  a  few  of  his  old  mistakes,  verifies  some 
of  his  old  impressions,  and  readjusts  his  vision. 
Though  we  call  things  by  different  names,  we 
have  to  deal  with  them  as  they  are,  and  they 
sooner  or  later  correct  our  mistakes,  even  though 
they  fail  to  alter  our  prejudices.  In  the  interests 
of  our  scientific  theories  we  banish  the  word  faith 
from  our  vocabulary,  but  we  none  the  less  use  the 
thing  every  day  of  our  lives.  In  the  interests  of 
our  creeds  we  anathematise  the  word  rationalism, 
but  we  make  use  of  our  reason  none  the  less,  and 
regard  as  irrational  every  opinion  from  which  we 
dissent.  The  Rationalist  believes,  and  the  Believer 
reasons  ;  the  Realist  has  his  ideals,  and  the  Idealist 
faces  the  actual.  We  are  all  children  of  our 
common  mother.  Nature,  whatever  training  and 


XVII        AN  AMBITIOUS  MOTHER 


95 


education  we  may  have  received.  It  is  in  her 
language  we  think,  in  whatever  speech  we  may 
express  ourselves.  It  is  the  instincts  we  have  in- 
herited from  her  which  mould  our  lives,  whatever 
opinions  we  may  hold. 

One  of  the  greatest  instincts  which  we  thus 
inherit  is  the  aspiration  after  a  richer  and  a  higher 
life.  We  are  all  idealists  by  nature,  whatever  we 
may  call  ourselves  in  later  life.  To  her  great  gift 
of  sight,  Nature  has  added  more  or  less  of  insight. 
To  the  consciousness  of  what  we  are,  she  gives  us 
more  or  less  of  a  revelation  of  what  we  may 
become.  To  the  desire  to  live,  she  adds  the 
aspiration  after  that  fuller  life  she  has  in  store  for 
us.  She  gives  us  the  foresight  by  which  we  are 
able  to  see  the  attainable  and  desire  it,  but  she 
graciously  withholds  the  farsight  which  would 
reveal  all  the  difficulties  in  the  attainment.  From 
the  mountain  peak  of  our  knowledge  of  the  actual 
we  are  able  to  see  the  dazzling  peak  of  the  ideal, 
but  between  us,  wrapped  in  the  thick  mists  of  the 
future,  lies  the  valley  of  realisation.  We  know 
what  will  satisfy  our  aspiration  long  before  we  see 
how  the  satisfaction  is  to  be  obtained  or  realise 
the  difficulties  there  are  in  the  way.  Faith  in  the 
ideal  precedes  the  sight  of  the  real,  even  as  anticipa- 
tion precedes  realisation.  While  farsight  would 
paralyse  all  ejffort  after  advancement,  foresight  is 
the  sine  qua  non  of  all  progress.  If  we  saw  all 
the  way  which  lies  between  the   actual  we  have 


196  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xvii 

attained  to,  and  the  ideal  we  aspire  to,  we  should 
never  undertake  the  journey.  If  the  distant  peak 
of  the  ideal  were  wrapped  in  impenetrable  cloud, 
we  should  never  aspire  to  ascend.  From  the 
Palace  Beautiful  we  must  be  able  to  see  the 
Delectable  Mountains,  though  the  Valley  of  Hu- 
miliation be  covered  with  the  mists  which  shut 
out  the  trials  that  await  us. 

The  interview  between  Christ  and  the  mother 
of  Zebedee's  children  is  an  illustration  of  the  sight 
of  the  ideal  with  that  ignorance  of  the  means  by 
which  alone  it  is  attainable,  which  is  characteristic 
of  human  nature.  The  mother  had  caught  a 
glimpse  of  the  place  at  the  right  and  left  hand  of 
the  King  in  His  glory,  which  her  sons  might 
perchance  occupy,  but  she  was  in  ignorance  of  the 
cup  of  suffering  and  the  baptism  of  sorrow  by 
which  it  was  alone  attainable.  Of  the  woman 
herself  we  know  nothing  directly,  but  much 
indirectly.  She  was  one  of  those  women  who  are 
insignificant  in  themselves,  but  illustrious  in  their 
relationships.  They  are  neither  deficient  in 
character  nor  lacking  in  individuality,  but  their 
character,  like  a  photographic  negative,  needs 
printing  before  its  beauty  is  evident,  and  their 
individuality  needs  another  life  upon  which  to 
leave  its  impress  before  it  is  perceptible.  Of  the 
woman  herself  we  are  not  even  certain  of  her 
name.  It  is  as  Zebedee's  wife,  and  notably  as  the 
mother  of  his  children,  that  she  is  known  to  us. 


XVII         AN  AMBITIOUS  MOTHER         197 

Whatever  greatness  she  possessed  came  out,  not  as 
the  woman,  but  as  the  wife  and  mother.  She 
doubtless  had  both  character  and  individuality,  for 
the  two  sons  are  sufficient  evidence  of  that.  Her 
character,  however,  developed  as  wife  and  mother, 
and  her  individuality  stamped  itself  upon  her  two 
sons.  Hers  was  no  self-contained  or  self-centred 
life.  Her  relations  to  her  husband  and  children 
absorbed  all  her  thought,  so  that  she  had  none  for 
herself  She  asks  for  no  honour  for  herself,  but 
only  for  her  sons.  The  highest  and  best  appeal 
to  her  nature,  but  her  ambition  expresses  itself 
in  bringing  forward  her  children.  The  personal 
diffidence  and  modesty  which  keep  the  sons  in  the 
background  are  unfelt  by  her,  for  she  is  pleading 
for  her  boys  and  not  for  herself. 

As  she  comes  forward,  the  intensity  of  her 
desire  is  stamped  upon  her  face,  and  expresses 
itself  in  the  lowly  attitude  she  assumes,  and  the 
humble  prostration  of  the  woman  of  the  East. 
That  she  has  a  great  favour  to  ask  is  evident  as 
much  from  her  own  eagerness  as  from  her  sons' 
reluctance.  She  is  a  true  Eastern  woman  in  the 
indefiniteness  with  which  she  first  states  her 
request,  hoping  to  secure  a  promise  beforehand,  to 
which  she  may  afterwards  appeal  when  the  great- 
ness of  her  petition  produces  the  anticipated 
hesitation.  In  answer  to  the  kindly,  "  What  is 
it  that  you  wish .? "  with  which  Christ  replies  to 
her  vague  request,  she  at  length   makes   known 


198  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xvii 

the  high  ambition  she  cherishes  for  her  sons. 
"  Command  that  these  my  two  sons  shall  sit,  one 
at  your  right  hand  and  the  other  at  your  left,  in 
your  kingdom."  She  is  an  ambitious  woman,  but 
her  motherhood  has  made  her  unselfish.  She 
aspires  to  the  highest,  she  aims  at  the  stars. 
Nothing  short  of  the  highest  will  satisfy  her,  but 
it  is  for  her  boys  and  not  for  herself  that  she 
pleads.  If  she  can  attain  for  them  the  place  next 
the  King,  she  is  content  to  prostrate  herself  in  the 
dust  at  His  feet.  With  a  true  mother's  pride  in 
her  sons,  she  has  no  doubt  as  to  their  qualifications. 
Like  a  true  woman  of  the  East,  she  has  equally  no 
doubt  as  to  the  ease  with  which  the  King  can  grant 
her  request.  A  word  from  Him  and  the  position 
is  theirs  :  He  has  but  to  command  and  it  is  done. 
It  is  the  peak  of  the  ideal  bathed  in  the  glory  of 
sunshine,  upon  which  her  eyes  are  fixed.  The 
valley  of  realisation,  in  which  is  the  Gethsemane 
of  agony,  and  the  Golgotha  of  a  shameful  death, 
are  mercifully  hidden  from  her  sight.  The 
mother's  eyes  can  perceive  a  future  for  her  sons 
which  fills  her  heart  with  joy.  The  future  of 
attainment  through  which  the  sons  will  have  to 
pass  would  break  her  heart.  If  the  mother  has  no 
foresight,  the  sons  have  no  future.  If  the  mother 
has  no  aspirations  for  her  children,  the  children 
receive  no  inspiration  from  the  mother.  She  must 
see  enough  to  inspire  them,  not  too  much  to 
daunt  them. 


XVII        AN  AMBITIOUS  MOTHER         199 

Christ  is  touched  by  the  mother's  earnestness  ; 
her  lofty  but  unselfish  ambition,  coupled  as  it  is 
with  so  much  simplicity,  moves  His  compassion. 
He  sees  His  own  mother's  face  glowing  with 
pride  and  joy,  and  He  foresees  that  same  face 
smitten  with  grief  as  she  stands  at  the  cross 
weeping.  There  is  infinite  tenderness  in  His  voice 
as  He  answers,  "  Ye  know  not  what  ye  ask."  The 
disciples  see  nothing  but  an  overweening  ambition, 
and  their  faces  reveal  the  condemnation  they 
would  fain  express.  Christ  sees  a  noble  aspiration 
worthy  of  all  commendation,  and  His  face  reflects 
the  approval  He  feels.  He  sees  also,  however,  the 
answer  to  the  mother's  prayer,  the  baptism  and 
the  cup  which  await  her  sons,  and  His  face  is 
transfigured  with  a  Divine  compassion.  What 
mother  ever  can  foresee  the  strange  answers  which 
await  her  prayers  !  If  she  knew  all  that  her  prayer 
means,  her  heart  would  fail  her,  and  the  prayer 
would  never  be  uttered.  With  a  tender  sympathy 
for  the  mother's  hopes.  He  turns  to  the  candidates 
for  high  office  whom  she  has  brought  forward. 
Their  faces  are  flushed  with  eager  anticipation,  the 
possibilities  of  greatness  are  perceptible,  character 
is  indicated  rather  than  defined.  They  are  pro- 
mising recruits  from  whom  good  service  may  be 
expected,  rather  than  veterans  to  whom  rewards 
must  be  given.  "  Can  you  drink  of  the  cup  from 
which  I  am  about  to  drink  ? "  He  asks.  "  The 
campaign  is  before  you,  the  kingdom  has  yet  to  be 


200  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xvii 

won.  It  is  not  ministers  whom  I  want  for  high 
offices,  but  soldiers  for  active  service.  It  is  a 
desperate  enterprise  calHng  for  heroic  effort  which 
lies  before  you,  not  a  triumphal  procession.  Can 
you  face  the  rigours  of  the  campaign,  can  you  follow 
in  the  forlorn  hope,  can  you  shed  your  blood  for 
the  King,  and  if  need  be  lay  down  your  life  in  His 
cause  ?  Can  you  follow  Him  through  the 
desperate  charge,  stand  by  Him  in  the  hour  of 
apparent  defeat  and  ruin  which  awaits  Him  ?  To 
stand  by  His  side  in  the  thick  of  the  fight,  to 
abide  with  Him  in  the  hour  of  defeat  when  all 
have  forsaken  Him  and  fled — these  are  the  positions 
which  are  possible  to  you.  Can  you  occupy  these  ?  " 
With  the  ardour  of  youthful  enthusiasm  and  the 
confidence  of  inexperience  they  eagerly  answer, 
"  We  can."  The  spirit  is  undoubtedly  willing, 
though  the  future  may  show  that  the  flesh  is  weak. 
Campaigns,  however,  are  more  often  won  by  the 
willingness  of  the  spirit  than  lost  by  the  weakness 
of  the  flesh.  The  flesh  may  be  responsible  for  the 
loss  of  a  battle,  but  it  is  the  spirit  to  which  the 
success  of  the  campaign  is  due.  Yes  !  these  men 
are  able.  They  are  but  recruits,  and  they  will  run 
at  the  first  battle,  but  there  is  the  stuffs  in  them  of 
which  veterans  are  made.  They  will  sleep  at  their 
post  as  sentries  while  their  Leader  is  passing 
through  the  agony  of  Gethsemane.  The  sight  of 
spear  and  helmet  as  the  Roman  guard  marches 
into  the  garden  will  throw  them  into  dismay,  and 


XVII        AN  AMBITIOUS  MOTHER         201 

before  a  blow  is  struck  they  will  flee  as  arrant 
cowards.  All  this  true,  and  yet  there  is  a  latent 
courage  and  a  potential  tenacity  of  purpose  which 
shall  yet  justify  the  confidence  with  which  they 
reply,  "  We  can/' 

Christ  recognises  the  truth  of  the  assertion,  and 
accepts  the  willingness  of  the  spirit,  though  He 
knows  full  well  the  weakness  of  the  flesh.  He 
sees  the  veteran  in  the  recruit ;  He  foresees  the 
triumph  of  the  spirit  over  the  flesh,  and  overlooks 
the  temporary  triumph  of  the  flesh  over  the 
spirit.  As  He  gives  the  recruit  his  knapsack, 
He  hides  in  it  the  Marshal's  baton.  *'  You  shall 
indeed  drink  of  My  cup,  and  be  baptized  with  My 
baptism,  for  that  is  possible  to  you  ;  but  the  seat 
at  My  right  hand  and  at  My  left,  it  is  not  for  Me 
to  allot,  but  it  will  be  bestowed  upon  those  for 
whom  it  has  been  prepared  by  My  Father." 
Service  can  be  promised,  but  position  must 
be  earned.  The  cross  can  be  placed  upon  our 
shoulders,  but  the  crown  must  be  won.  The 
travail  is  here,  the  satisfaction  is  there.  The  ideal 
which  is  seen  from  afar  must  be  realised  before  it 
can  be  possessed,  and  its  realisation  involves  a 
Gethsemane  and  a  Calvary.  The  place  at  the 
right  hand  is  not  granted  as  the  result  of  the 
mother's  prayer,  it  is  given  as  the  result  of  the 
son's  agony.  It  is  not  a  favour  bestowed  for  the 
asking,  it  is  an  honour  awarded  for  merit.  It  is 
reserved  for  those  for   whom  it  is  prepared  ;  it 


202  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xvii 

is  prepared  for  those  by  whom  it  is  deserved. 
Nature  inspires  all  her  children  with  the  desire 
for  the  higher  place  and  the  increased  power,  but 
she  awards  the  prize  to  those  only  who  have 
struggled  for  the  richer  and  fuller  life.  It  is  the 
elect  alone  who  triumph,  and  for  them  the  place 
has  been  reserved. 

The  other  ten  disciples  heard  and  were  in- 
dignant at  the  presumption  of  the  two.  They 
were  rivals  for  place  and  position,  not  competitors 
for  service.  It  was  jealousy  of  the  two,  not  zeal 
for  arduous  service,  which  stirred  them.  They 
coveted  the  seat,  not  the  cup.  Christ  heard  their 
loud  voices  and  angry  tones,  and  calling  them  to 
Him,  explained  the  meaning  of  true  greatness 
and  the  duties  of  high  office.  In  the  kingdoms  of 
the  world  high  position  means  self-importance, 
and  greatness  means  self-aggrandisement,  but  it 
must  not  be  so  among  you.  Be  ambitious  for  the 
highest,  but  understand  what  the  highest  means. 
Strive  after  greatness,  but  realise  what  true  great- 
ness is.  In  the  kingdom  of  heaven  the  higher  the 
position  the  greater  the  service.  The  prince  in 
position  is  the  bond-slave  in  service,  just  as  the  Son 
of  Man  came  not  to  be  served,  but  to  serve,  not 
to  preserve  His  own  life,  but  by  the  sacrifice  of 
Himself  to  save  the  world. 


XVIII 

A    LITTLE    MAN    WITH    A     LARGE    HEART 
Luke  xix.  i-io. 

Life  is  full  of  surprises,  and  human  nature  is  a 
bundle  of  apparent  inconsistencies.  Great  men 
often  manifest  unaccountable  meanness,  and  little 
men  as  frequently  surprise  us  with  true  greatness. 
The  heroic  soul  has  its  moments  of  cowardice, 
and  the  coward  his  moments  of  heroism.  The 
influence  of  environment  at  one  time  appears  to 
be  all-powerful,  at  another  it  seems  to  be  utterly 
ineffective.  The  man  whose  training  and  profes- 
sion prophesy  one  thing  will  suddenly  astonish 
us  with  a  display  of  the  opposite.  The  man 
whose  individuality  is  so  pronounced  as  to  seem 
to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  external  circumstances, 
will  all  at  once  fall  a  victim  to  their  influence. 
Rules  and  maxims  which  are  the  generalisations 
of  the  widest  experience,  and  the  result  of  genera- 
tions of  observation,  are  almost  as  frequently 
falsified  as  verified.  We  are  compelled  to  admit 
that  many  of  our  commonest   proverbs  are   only 

203 


204  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xviii 

half-truths,  and  that  the  other  half  almost  justifies 
the  inversion  of  the  proverb.  The  explanation  is 
probably  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  human 
nature  is  not  simple  but  complex,  not  a  single 
but  a  double.  There  is  the  ordinary,  much-in- 
evidence  self,  and  a  self  which  may  be  called  the 
subliminal  self.  The  one  usually  lives  on  the 
ground  floor,  answers  the  bell,  and  attends  to 
callers  ;  the  other  lives  upstairs  and  spends  most  of 
his  time  in  dreaming.  The  most  frequent  callers 
at  the  house,  tradesmen  and  visitors,  are  well 
acquainted  with  the  one,  but  hardly  know  of  the 
other^s  existence.  It  is  the  latter,  however,  who 
is  the  real  proprietor.  As  a  rule  he  leaves  matters 
of  merely  mundane  or  diurnal  interest  to  the 
dweller  on  the  ground  floor,  and  is  indifferent  to 
any  complications  due  to  his  indolence  that  may 
arise  in  the  household  affairs.  Occasionally,  how- 
ever, he  descends  to  the  lower  apartments,  and 
there  asserts  himself  On  such  occasions  he  may 
himself  answer  the  door,  and  then  perhaps  the 
visitor  will  receive  a  reception  as  unexpected  as  it 
is  startling.  As  Stevenson  has  so  graphically 
depicted  in  Br.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde,  every  man 
is  more  or  less  of  a  contradiction.  The  ordinary 
and  the  subliminal  self  are  not  doubles  except  in 
appearance,  in  nature  and  disposition  they  are 
often  the  exact  opposite  of  each  other.  The 
ordinary  self  is  the  active  partner  in  the  firm,  the 
subliminal  self  is  as  a  rule  the  sleeping  partner. 


XVIII  TRUE  GREATNESS  205 

It  is  only  when  the  firm  is  passing  through  some 
crisis  that  the  sleeping  partner  is  seen  or  his 
influence  felt. 

The  sudden  conversion  of  Zaccheus  is  a  case 
of  the  awakening  of  the  subliminal  self  and  its 
sudden  assumption  of  the  reins  of  government. 
The  ordinary  self  was  Zaccheus  the  publican,  the 
subliminal  self  was  Zaccheus  the  son  of  Abraham. 
He  was  an  Ishmael  by  training  and  profession,  his 
hand  against  every  man  and  every  man's  hand 
against  him,  but  he  was  a  son  of  Abraham  by 
birth.  His  neighbours  and  acquaintances  knew 
only  the  publican  who  answered  the  door,  and 
never  dreamed  of  the  son  of  Abraham  within. 
They  saw  the  littleness  and  meanness  of  the 
publican,  and  despised  him  accordingly.  When 
they  called  at  the  big  house  in  which  the  rich 
customs  officer  lived,  it  was  the  little  man  with  the 
mean  appearance  and  the  dirty  hands  who  opened 
the  door  and  took  their  cards.  The  great  man 
with  the  stamp  of  nobility  upon  him  was  not  at 
home,  and  they  were  oblivious  of  his  existence. 
They  called  at  the  house  as  seldom  as  possible, 
and  confined  their  conversations  to  the  conventions. 
It  was  at  his  office  that  they  knew  Zaccheus  best, 
and  in  the  transactions  they  had  with  him  they 
generally  came  off  second  best.  All  the  time, 
however,  there  was  another  Zaccheus  living  alone 
in  the  great  house,  dreaming  his  dreams  and  seeing 
his  visions.     Visible  to  the  ordinary  eye  was  the 


2o6  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xviii 

publican  sitting  at  the  receipt  of  custom  and 
waiting  for  his  dues  ;  invisible,  but  none  the  less 
real,  was  the  devout  Jew  waiting  for  the  con- 
solation of  Israel. 

Man  is  a  social  animal,  and  where  the  social 
instinct  is  confined  within  a  narrow  channel  the 
stream  runs  deepest.  The  publican  found  him- 
self shunned  by  the  ordinary  Jew,  and  therefore  he 
naturally  drew  towards  those  who  were  similarly 
treated.  The  feast  must  be  given,  and  if  those 
who  are  invited  refuse  to  come,  the  highways  and 
hedges  must  be  searched  to  obtain  the  required 
guests.  The  publicans  found  themselves  forced 
to  seek  society  amongst  their  own  class,  and 
consequently  they  were  probably  well  known  to 
one  another,  even  though  their  calling  was  carried 
on  in  different  centres.  We  may  therefore  con- 
clude that  though  Zaccheus  was  unacquainted  with 
Christ,  he  was  well  known  to  Matthew,  and  had 
heard  much  from  the  disciple  of  the  Master  at 
whose  call  he  had  left  all  to  follow  Him.  In  pre- 
paration for  His  last  great  journey  to  Jerusalem, 
during  which  this  interview  between  Christ  and 
Zaccheus  took  place,  Jesus  had  sent  on  in  advance 
the  seventy  specially  appointed  disciples,  to  visit 
every  town  and  village  which  He  Himself 
intended  to  visit,  to  prepare  for  His  coming. 
It  is  extremely  likely  that  Matthew  was  one  of 
the  seventy,  and  therefore  reasonable  to  conclude 
that  if  he  was  one  of  the  two  who  visited  Jericho 


XVIII  TRUE  GREATNESS  207 

in  advance,  he  would  be  most  probably  attracted 
to  the  house  of  his  fellow  publican  Zaccheus. 
There  he  would  probably  deepen  the  interest 
which  Zaccheus  already  felt  in  the  Prophet  of 
Nazareth,  and  inform  him  of  the  intended  visit 
which  Christ  purposed  paying  to  his  town.  The 
knowledge  of  the  ill-repute  in  which  he  was  held 
by  the  people  generally,  is  quite  sufficient  to  account 
for  Zaccheus  giving  no  invitation  to  Matthew  to 
bring  the  Master  to  his  house.  Zaccheus  would 
never  dream  that  the  Prophet  would  be  willing  to 
stay  with  him  during  His  visit  to  Jericho. 

The  news  of  Christ's  approach  was  doubtless 
heard  as  Zaccheus  was  engaged  in  his  public 
business,  and  aroused  an  intense  desire  within  him 
to  see  this  friend  of  the  publican  Matthew. 
What  sort  of  a  man  could  this  Prophet  of  Galilee 
be  that  a  publican  could  resign  his  lucrative  office 
and  become  His  disciple  ?  He  was  at  least  a  man 
worth  looking  at.  The  thronging  crowds,  how- 
ever, hid  Him  from  view,  and  the  procession 
passed  on  without  his  being  able  to  satisfy  his 
curiosity.  He  became  conscious  of  his  littleness 
perhaps  for  the  first  time.  The  handicap  of 
nature,  however,  can  be  overcome  by  artifice,  and 
running  on  in  advance  of  the  crowd  to  a  place 
where  the  procession  must  pass,  he  climbed  up 
into  a  sycamore  tree  by  the  roadside,  and  eagerly 
awaited  the  arrival  of  the  Master  and  His 
disciples.     As  they  drew  near   Matthew's   quick 


2o8  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xviii 

eye  detected  his  old  friend,  and  he  probably  drew 
Christ's  attention  to  the  man  about  whom  he  had 
doubtless  spoken  on  his  return  from  his  mission. 
This  simple  explanation  of  Christ's  subsequent 
action  not  only  makes  the  scene  far  more  living 
and  natural,  but  invests  it  with  a  richer  meaning. 
Where  a  natural  explanation  is  possible,  a  super- 
natural should  never  be  supposed.  It  is  not  any 
abnormally  keen  sight  on  Christ's  part,  nor  any 
supernatural  knowledge  of  the  name  of  a  man 
whom  He  has  never  seen  before,  which  are  the 
significant  features  in  the  narrative.  It  is  the 
insight  into  character  and  the  knowledge  of  the 
man's  nature  which  are  the  distinguishing  features. 
The  crowd  saw  nothing  but  a  little  man  taking 
advantage  of  a  good  position  to  secure  a  better  sight 
than  his  neighbours.  Christ  saw  a  great  soul  trying 
to  overcome  the  disadvantages  of  birth  and  training. 
If  the  neighbours  saw  the  symbolical  at  all,  they 
passed  by  with  the  remark  that  it  was  just  like  the 
publican  :  what  he  could  not  gain  in  one  way  he 
would  get  in  another — if  not  by  fair  means,  then 
by  foul.  Christ  saw  the  symbol  and  interpreted  it 
with  the  sympathy  of  insight.  Here  was  a  man 
greater  than  his  environment,  a  soul  capable  of 
high  attainments,  a  nature  susceptible  to  deep  im- 
pressions. The  man  had  been  misjudged  all  his 
life,  and  his  life  had  been  a  response  to  the  false 
opinion  expressed.  The  Jews  had  despised  him, 
and  he  had  made  them  pay  for  it  in  extortion  ; 


XVIII  TRUE  GREATNESS  209 

they  had  withheld  from  him  what  was  his  due, 
and  he  had  made  them  pay  more  than  they  owed. 
They  had  appealed  to  the  worst  in  his  nature,  and 
the  worst  had  answered  their  expectations.  They 
had  treated  him  with  scorn,  and  he  had  replied 
by  treating  their  opinion  with  contempt.  The 
true  Zaccheus  had  retired  more  and  more  within 
the  house,  and  left  the  management  of  his  affairs 
to  his  major-domo.  It  was  the  true  Zaccheus, 
however,  who  had  come  out  that  day,  and  seeing 
him,  Christ  stopped,  and  looking  up,  said,  "Zac- 
cheus, come  down  quickly,  for  I  intend  to  stay  at 
your  house  to-day." 

With  that  sympathetic  insight  which  charac- 
terised Him,  Christ  knows  what  the  man  really 
needs,  and  with  the  delicacy  of  fine  sentiment 
expresses  as  His  own  sentiment  what  He  knows 
Zaccheus  wishes,  but  fears  to  ask.  Instead  of 
being  perched  up  in  a  tree  to  get  a  passing  glance, 
he  shall  sit  at  his  own  table  with  the  Prophet  at 
his  right  hand.  In  place  of  contempt  and  scorn, 
he  shall  know  that  One  at  least  regards  him  as  a 
friend,  treats  him  as  a  man  and  not  as  a  publican, 
recognises  him  as  a  son  of  Abraham  and  an  heir 
of  the  promises. 

Hastily  Zaccheus  descends,  and,  with  a  heart 
overflowing  with  the  joy  of  unaccustomed  respect, 
conducts  Christ  to  his  house.  It  is  not  the  little 
man  with  the  mean  appearance  and  the  dirty  hands 
who  meets  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth  at  the  great 


2IO  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xviii 

house.  It  is  the  proprietor  himself  who  stands  on 
the  steps  and  welcomes  his  honoured  guest.  The 
crowd,  however,  cannot  see  the  man  for  the 
publican.  Their  feelings  are  shocked,  their  sense 
of  propriety  outraged.  "  He  is  gone  to  be  the 
guest  of  a  man  who  is  a  notorious  and  hardened 
sinner,"  they  exclaim  in  indignation.  Zaccheus 
hears  the  contemptuous  tones  and  the  abusive 
words,  but  they  do  not  affect  the  proprietor  as 
they  did  the  major-domo.  He  is  indifferent  to 
the  reproach  himself,  for  he  feels  that  it  is 
deserved,  but  he  is  anxious  that  none  should  reach 
his  guest.  "  Here  and  now.  Master,"  he  says, 
turning  to  Christ,  "  I  give  half  of  my  property  to 
the  poor,  and  if  I  have  extorted  money  from  any 
man,  I  restore  fourfold."  The  real  owner  has  at 
last  been  aroused,  and  has  taken  charge  of  his  own 
affairs.  The  old  major-domo  is  dismissed  on  the 
spot.  In  place  of  the  mean,  grasping  hand  of  the 
publican,  there  is  here  the  large-handed  generosity 
of  the  human  heart  which  feels  for  the  poor. 
Instead  of  the  extortion  of  the  one,  there  is  the 
liberal  restitution  of  the  other.  The  generosity 
of  Christ  has  awakened  generosity  in  Zaccheus  ; 
the  appeal  to  the  best  in  him  has  called  forth  the 
highest  of  which  he  is  capable.  The  unmerited 
honour  which  Christ  has  bestowed  upon  him  has 
made  him  suddenly  deserving,  and  there  is  no 
house  in  Jericho  more  fitting  to  receive  the  Saviour 
of  Israel   than   the   house  of  Zaccheus,  to  which 


XVIII  TRUE  GREATNESS  211 

salvation  has  veritably  come.  "  To-day,"  Christ 
answers,  "  salvation  has  come  to  this  house,  seeing 
that  he  too  is  a  son  of  Abraham."  He  has  heard 
what  the  people  said,  as  well  as  what  Zaccheus  has 
promised.  This  man  has  received  not  only  the 
Prophet  of  Nazareth,  but  the  salvation  of  Israel. 
"  He  has  gone  to  be  the  guest  of  a  notorious  and 
hardened  sinner."  Why,  they  do  not  know  their 
own  townsman,  though  he  has  lived  among  them 
all  his  life  !  The  so-called  hardened  sinner  is 
giving  half  his  goods  to  feed  the  poor.  The 
grasping  publican  is  restoring  fourfold.  He  is 
showing  a  princely  generosity  and  the  righteous- 
ness of  an  Abraham.  The  old  line  is  not  extinct, 
for  in  the  veins  of  Zaccheus  is  the  blood  of 
Abraham.  There  is  even  a  ring  in  the  voice  of 
Zaccheus  as  he  promises  to  restore  fourfold  which 
reminds  us  of  his  great  ancestor  answering  the 
king  of  Sodom  :  "  I  will  not  take  a  thread  nor  a 
shoe-latchet,  nor  aught  that  is  thine,  lest  thou 
shouldest  say,  I  have  made  Abram  rich."  A  son 
of  Abraham  he  is,  though  there  is  a  touch  of  the 
bondwoman  as  well.  The  freewoman's  jealousy 
and  scorn  had  turned  him  out  of  his  home  and 
made  an  Ishmael  of  him,  with  his  hand  against 
every  man,  and  every  man's  hand  against  him. 
The  royal  blood,  however,  is  in  his  veins,  and  the 
princely  spirit  was  in  his  heart  all  the  time.  It 
needed  but  to  be  called  forth,  and  the  kingly 
generosity  of  One  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek 


212  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xviii 

had  summoned  it  into  activity.  In  going  to  be  the 
guest  of  a  man  who  was  a  hardened  sinner,  Christ 
had  fulfilled  the  object  of  His  mission,  for  He  had 
come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost. 
The  younger  son  had  come  to  himself,  and  was 
already  in  the  Father's  home.  The  elder  brother 
might  be  angry  if  he  chose,  but  the  Father  would 
find  a  sufficient  answer  in  the  fact  that  His  son 
who  was  dead  was  alive  again.  His  child  who  was 
lost  was  found. 


XIX 

A    QUESTION    OF    AUTHORITY 
Matt.  xxi.  23-46  ;  Mark  xi.  27-33  >  Luke  xx.  1-19. 

From  his  earliest  days  man  has  been  a  labour- 
saving  animal.  This,  in  fact,  has  been  his  distin- 
guishing feature,  and  one  of  the  greatest  factors 
in  the  progress  he  has  made.  He  has  invented 
instruments  to  save  the  labour  of  his  hands,  and 
constructed  rules  and  formulas  to  save  the  labour 
of  his  head.  Most  of  his  superiority  over  the 
animal  has  come  from  this  capacity,  and  he  has 
been  justly  proud  of  the  benefits  it  has  conferred 
upon  him.  He  has  been  compelled,  however,  to 
recognise  that  certain  domains  in  which  his  activi- 
ties have  been  engaged  have  persistently  defied 
all  attempts  to  dispense  with  either  the  work  of 
his  hands  or  the  efforts  of  his  brain.  Art  and 
Religion  have  more  or  less  refused  to  be  brought 
within  the  sphere  of  this  labour-saving  capacity. 
Pictures  and  poems  cannot  be  turned  out  by 
machinery  ;  religious  thought  and  feeling  cannot 
be  manufactured  to   order.     They  must   be  free 

213 


214  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST   xix 

and  spontaneous  or  they  are  lifeless,  and  being 
lifeless  they  are  of  necessity  valueless.  They  must 
be  stamped  with  individuality  or  they  are  worth- 
less. When  Art  is  fettered  it  becomes  artificial  ; 
when  Religion  is  regulated  it  becomes  mere  ritual. 
In  the  domain  of  Art  the  influence  of  a  school  must 
be  educative,  in  the  etymological  meaning  of  that 
word.  If  it  becomes  tyrannical,  it  destroys  the 
Art  it  was  intended  to  foster.  In  the  domain  of 
Religion,  when  Ecclesiasticism,  instead  of  fostering, 
fetters  the  life  of  the  Church,  it  destroys  the  body 
it  was  meant  to  preserve ;  when  systems  and 
creeds,  instead  of  stimulating,  stifle  thought  and 
act  as  an  anaesthetic  upon  feeling,  they  betray  the 
faith  they  were  designed  to  guard.  Both  Art  and 
Religion  are  essentially  manifestations  of  life,  not 
articles  of  manufacture.  If  they  are  to  be  vital 
they  must  grow  and  develop,  each  after  its  kind, 
and  not  according  to  any  superimposed  pattern  or 
model.  They  must  absorb  the  light  of  inspiration, 
breathe  the  air  of  perfect  freedom,  and  draw  their 
nourishment  from  the  rich  soil  of  the  emotions. 
What  is  true  of  the  productions  themselves  is  true 
of  the  criticism  pronounced  upon  them.  They 
must  be  judged,  not  by  any  conformity  to  precon- 
ceived canons  and  prescribed  regulations,  but  solely 
on  the  ground  of  their  possession  of  life — life 
which  is  true,  and  life  which  is  beautiful.  They 
are  all  alike  attempts  to  realise  the  ideal,  and 
therefore  the  true  test  of  their  value  is  not  by 


XIX     A  QUESTION  OF  AUTHORITY    215 

comparison  with  other  attempts,  but  by  the 
measure  in  which  they  approach  the  ideal.  Each 
must  be  compared  with  the  ideal, — that  pattern 
which  is  only  revealed  on  the  Mount, — and  there- 
fore true  criticism  must  never  be  stereotyped. 

The  two  spheres  of  Art  and  Religion,  however, 
represent  a  very  small  segment  of  the  circle  of 
human  activity,  and  the  Masters  are  the  elect  few 
of  the  race.  While  man  has  been  compelled  to 
regard  these  spheres  as  special  preserves  into  which 
only  the  few  could  enter,  he  has  not  so  readily  recog- 
nised that  the  sphere  of  true  criticism  is  similarly 
restricted,  and  the  critic  is  equally  an  elect  soul. 
The  true  critic  no  less  than  the  true  poet  must  be 
born,  and  not  made.  If  the  poem  is  an  inspiration, 
the  criticism  must  be  a  revelation.  To  such  depths, 
however,  has  criticism  been  degraded  and  our 
conceptions  debased,  that  the  most  worthless 
criticism  is  that  which  we  characterise  as  inspired. 
Religion,  however,  has  a  much  wider  sphere  than 
Art,  since  it  is  only  the  few  who  profess  an  interest 
in  the  latter,  while  all  are  more  or  less  concerned 
with  the  former.  For  every  art  critic  there  are  a 
thousand  religious  critics.  The  tendency  therefore 
to  apply  regulations  and  rules  in  the  judgment 
passed  upon  productions  in  the  domain  of  religion 
has  been  far  more  widespread,  and  consequently 
far  more  mischievous.  Select  bodies  have  been 
established  to  whom  has  been  remitted  all  criticism 
in   the  sphere  of  Religion,  and  whose  judgments 


2i6  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST   xix 

have  been  accepted  as  final.  These  in  turn  have 
adopted  their  own  regulations  and  standards  by 
which  to  judge  all  the  questions  submitted  to  them, 
and  have  rigorously  imposed  their  decisions  on 
their  followers.  The  result  has  invariably  been  the 
decay  of  all  real  life  within  the  organisation,  and 
the  suppression  of  all  attempts  at  revival.  Religion, 
like  Art,  however,  cannot  be  bound.  Bonds  are 
sooner  or  later  broken  asunder,  the  religious 
instincts  of  men  recognise  the  living  truth  in  spite 
of  ban  and  censure.  Authority  which  is  assumed 
has  to  give  place  to  the  authority  which  is  innate. 
The  living  voice  is  more  potent  than  the  dead 
hand.  The  body  which  arrogates  to  itself  the 
right  to  question  has  itself  to  submit  to  the  greater 
right  of  being  questioned.  If  it  cannot  justify  the 
authority  it  claims,  it  will  receive  no  answer  to  the 
question  it  asks. 

Christ's  public  entry  into  Jerusalem,  followed 
by  the  cleansing  of  the  Temple,  and  the  open 
teaching  within  its  sacred  courts,  naturally  aroused 
the  resentment  of  the  religious  authorities  who  felt 
themselves  to  be  in  supreme  charge  of  the  religious 
interests  of  their  nation.  Here  was  one  who 
ignored  their  official  position,  invaded  their  special 
province,  and  taught  without  their  special  per- 
mission. They  saw  their  power  over  the  people 
slipping  from  their  grasp,  their  place  rocking 
beneath  their  feet,  and  their  authority  fast  becom- 
ing a  dead  letter.     This  obscure  provincial   had 


XIX     A  QUESTION  OF  AUTHORITY    217 

taken  the  capital  by  storm,  and  the  people  were 
following  Him  in  crowds.  Who  was  He,  and 
what  credentials  could  He  produce  ?  What  right 
had  He  to  the  position  He  was  taking  ?  Whence 
did  He  derive  the  authority  He  was  assuming  ? 
Filled  with  a  sense  of  their  own  importance,  and 
keenly  sensitive  to  the  due  exercise  of  their 
authority,  it  was  natural  that  they  should  demand 
credentials  from  one  who  acted  as  though  He  were 
beyond  their  jurisdiction.  A  deputation  therefore 
of  the  chief  priests  and  elders  of  the  people  came 
to  Him  as  He  was  engaged  in  teaching  in  the 
Temple,  and  asked  Him  by  what  authority  He 
was  acting  as  He  did,  and  who  had  given  Him 
this  authority.  They  were  themselves  accustomed 
to  rely  upon  authority  for  everything  they  did. 
Religion  to  them  was  an  elaborate  ritual,  minutely 
prescribed  by  recognised  authorities.  They  re- 
garded a  teacher  as  one  who  had  been  definitely 
instructed  in  the  schools,  and  duly  licensed  by  the 
ruling  authorities.  They  demanded  therefore  that 
He  should  justify  His  conduct  and  produce  His 
credentials. 

Christ  replies  by  asking  another  question.  His 
method,  however,  is  by  no  means  an  evasion  of  a 
difficulty,  it  has  a  definite  object  in  view.  Their 
question  is  not  meant  to  elicit  information,  it  is  a 
demand  that  He  shall  justify  action  which  they 
repudiate.  They  do  not  come  to  Him  to  learn, 
they   come   to  judge.     They   are   not  pupils  but 


2i8  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST   xix 

examiners.  His  question  therefore  is  directed  to 
their  qualifications  for  the  position  they  have 
assumed.  They  have  demanded  His  diploma ; 
can  they  read  it  if  it  is  shown  them  ?  They  have 
asked  for  His  authority  ;  can  they  recognise  one 
when  they  see  it .?  They  pose  as  examiners  ;  have 
they  passed  any  examination  themselves  in  the 
subject  about  which  they  propose  to  question  Him? 
"  I  also  will  ask  you  a  question,"  He  replies,  "  and 
demand  an  answer.  When  you  have  given  the 
answer,  I  will  tell  you  by  what  authority  I  act,  and 
by  whom  I  am  accredited.  The  ministry  of  John 
the  Baptist, — was  it  from  heaven,  or  from  men  ^ 
Answer  me  that."  They  have  questioned  His 
authority,  they  shall  first  feel  it.  If  they  have  a 
right  to  ask  Him  for  His  diploma.  He  has  a  right 
to  find  out  whether  they  can  decipher  it.  They 
profess  to  be  able  to  judge  the  validity  of  His 
authority  ;  let  them  first  prove  that  they  have 
recognised  as  valid  an  authority  which  they  have 
already  seen.  They  sent  their  deputations  to  the 
Baptist,  and  they  received  their  answer.  How  did 
they  read  it  ?  What  did  they  make  of  him  and 
his  ministry  ?  Had  they  recognised  the  King's 
seal  and  signature  on  the  document  the  herald  had 
brought  them  ?  If  so,  the  credentials  of  Him 
whom  the  herald  announced  would  be  intelligible 
to  them. 

The  challenge  with  which  they  were  suddenly 
confronted    could    not    be    evaded.       They    had 


XIX     A  QUESTION  OF  AUTHORITY    219 

assumed  their  robes  of  state,  and  arrayed  them- 
selves in  the  insignia  of  office.  The  people  whose 
leaders  they  professed  to  be,  and  whose  interests 
they  were  supposed  to  guard,  were  all  around 
them  waiting  for  their  reply.  Many  in  the  crowd 
had  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  document  the  herald 
had  produced,  and  had  their  own  ideas  of  the 
treatment  he  had  received.  The  haughty  look  on 
the  faces  of  priests  and  elders  is  exchanged  for  one 
of  confusion  and  perplexity  ;  the  imperious  tones 
give  place  to  hurried  whisperings.  They  find 
themselves  on  the  horns  of  a  dilemma,  from  which 
all  their  writhing  and  twisting  will  not  extricate 
them.  **  From  heaven,"  suggests  one,  only  to  be 
fiercely  answered  by  another,  "  NO,  NO,  or  He 
will  say.  Why  did  you  not  believe  him.? "  "From 
men,"  whispers  a  second,  only  to  be  warned  by 
another  to  beware  of  the  stones  of  an  exasperated 
mob.  "They  reasoned  with  one  another,"  but 
were  deaf  to  the  still,  small  voice  of  their  own 
consciences.  They  recoiled  from  hearing  the 
condemnation  from  His  lips  which  the  one  answer 
was  sure  to  produce  ;  they  shrank  in  abject 
cowardice  from  the  hurtling  stones  of  the  people, 
which  the  other  answer  would  just  as  certainly 
bring  upon  their  unprotected  heads.  The  Prophet 
whom  they  have  despised  calmly  awaits  their  reply ; 
the  crowd  in  whose  midst  they  stand  is  showing 
signs  of  impatience.  In  sullen  tones  they  choose 
rather  to  confess  their   ignorance  than  encounter 


220  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    xix 

His  condemnation,  or  face  an  angry  crowd  of 
excited  partisans  of  the  Baptist.  The  answer,  "  We 
cannot  tell,"  at  length  comes  from  their  reluctant 
lips.  They  are  compelled  to  confess  that  they 
have  asked  to  see  a  document  which  they  are 
unable  to  read.  They  have  demanded  to  see  a 
seal  and  a  signature  which  when  shown  to  them 
they  cannot  recognise.  They  have  been  brought 
face  to  face  with  a  reality,  and  the  tests  which  they 
have  so  constantly  applied  to  shams  are  useless. 
They  have  demanded  the  authority  for  His  ministry, 
and  they  are  suddenly  asked  to  give  their  judgment 
on  the  ministry  of  a  man  who  has  proved  himself 
to  be  a  prophet  of  God.  They  are  asked  what 
they  know  of  real  credentials,  not  of  spurious 
imitations.  They  have  asked  for  authority  from 
man,  and  they  are  confronted  with  approval  from 
God  ;  they  have  asked  to  see  a  license  from  a 
human  tribunal,  and  they  are  referred  to  a  Divine 
commission  which  has  already  been  presented  to 
them.  They  come  to  examine,  and  they  are 
forced  to  acknowledge  that  they  have  themselves 
failed  to  pass  the  preliminary  examination.  They 
are  robed  as  leaders  and  guides  of  the  people,  and 
yet  they  cannot  say  what  the  least  instructed  in 
the  crowd  can  tell  them,  namely,  that  John  was  a 
prophet  sent  from  God. 

Christ  hears  the  words,  but  detects  the  falsehood 
which  they  conceal.  Their  answer  is  the  lie 
dictated  by  shame  and  fear.     Cannot !  let  them  say 


XIX     A  QUESTION  OF  AUTHORITY    221 

what  they  mean, — will  not !  It  is  not  that  these 
chief  priests  and  elders  of  the  people  cannot  read, 
it  is  that  they  will  not  speak.  It  is  not  mental 
ignorance,  but  moral  obliquity  from  which  they 
are  suffering.  For  the  one  He  has  infinite  pity, 
for  the  other  He  has  the  scorn  of  a  noble  mind. 
If  they  were  blind  He  could  feel  compassion ; 
that  they  wilfully  shut  their  eyes  fills  Him  with 
indignation.  They  are  not  unable  to  answer,  they 
are  unwilling.  He  too  can  also  be  unwilling. 
''  Neither  will  I  tell  you  by  what  authority  I  act  as 
I  do."  Of  what  use  is  it  to  speak  to  ears  which 
are  wilfully  shut,  or  to  show  to  eyes  which  are 
wilfully  closed.  John's  credentials  should  have 
been  a  safe-conduct  rendering  his  person  inviolable, 
yet  they  had  allowed  him  to  be  cruelly  done  to 
death  at  the  instigation  of  an  adulteress.  With 
men  who  have  so  shamefully  treated  His  messenger 
the  Messiah  will  refuse  to  parley. 

Christ  has  not  yet  done  with  them,  however. 
They  will  not  answer  a  plain  and  straightforward 
question,  but  an  answer  He  means  to  extract  from 
them.  They  have  concealed  their  real  thought 
under  words  of  deceit,  but  He  will  get  it  out  of 
them  in  spite  of  themselves.  If  they  will  not 
answer  directly  they  shall  do  so  indirectly. 
"  What  is  your  opinion,"  He  asks  them,  "  of  a 
case  like  this."  In  one  of  those  living  pictures 
which  He  could  sketch  in  a  few  sentences.  He 
describes  two  sons  asked  to  work  in  their  father's 


222  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    xix 

vineyard,  and  whose  answers  reveal  their  very 
different  dispositions.  In  the  one  there  is  the 
blank  refusal  followed  by  the  better  spirit  of 
obedience,  in  the  other  the  hypocritical  spirit  of 
professed  willingness  followed  by  wilful  disobedi- 
ence. "  Which  of  the  two,"  He  suddenly  asks 
them,  *'  did  the  will  of  his  father  ?  "  There  is  no 
whispered  consultation  now,  and  unsuspectingly 
they  reply,  *'  The  first."  They  have  committed 
themselves  at  last,  and  stand  convicted  out  of 
their  own  mouths.  '*  I  solemnly  assure  you,'* 
Christ  answers,  *'  that  the  publicans  and  the  harlots 
take  precedence  of  you  in  entering  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  which  John  announced,  and  in  prepara- 
tion for  which  his  ministry  was  spent.  He  came 
to  you  in  the  way  of  that  very  ceremonial  righteous- 
ness for  which  you  profess  so  much  reverence,  and 
yet  you  would  not  believe  him.  The  publicans 
and  harlots,  however,  believed  him  ;  but  as  for  you, 
even  when  you  saw  the  example  they  set,  you  were 
not  even  afterwards  sorry,  so  that  you  too  might 
believe  him  to  be  a  prophet  of  God.'*  They  have 
asked  for  His  authority,  and  now  they  are  beginning 
to  feel  it,  in  the  uneasy  prickings  of  conscience. 
He  has  another  parable  which  they  can  turn  over 
in  their  minds,  and  answer  or  not  as  they  feel 
inclined.  Again  the  steady  and  skilful  hand 
rapidly  traces  the  outline  of  a  fresh  scene.  Another 
vineyard  rises  before  their  gaze,  but  this  time  a 
tragedy  is  being  enacted.    There  are  faces  distorted 


XIX     A  QUESTION  OF  AUTHORITY    223 

with  rage,  clubs  are  uplifted,  and  servants  are 
fleeing  for  their  lives.  The  scene  changes  and 
the  heir  himself  approaches.  There  is  a  hurried 
consultation  among  the  husbandmen,  which  ends  in 
these  usurpers  of  the  son's  inheritance  seizing  him 
and  cruelly  murdering  him  in  cold  blood.  Once 
more  a  question  is  asked,  "  What  then  will  the 
owner  do  to  these  professed  dressers  of  his  vine- 
yard ^  '*  This  time  the  chief  priests  and  elders  are 
anticipated  by  the  crowd,  whose  feelings  have  been 
stirred  by  the  recital  of  a  dastardly  crime,  and 
they  finish  the  story  to  their  own  satisfaction. 
"  He  will  put  the  wretches  to  a  miserable  death, 
and  give  his  vineyard  to  worthier  men,"  they  cry 
out.  The  temper  of  the  crowd  is  sufficiently 
evident  in  their  reply,  and  priest  and  elder  con- 
gratulate each  other  with  significant  looks  that 
they  did  not  commit  themselves  in  the  matter  of 
John's  baptism.  Turning  to  these  professed 
builders  of  Sion,  Christ  reminds  them  of  the  verse 
in  the  Psalms,  "  The  stone  which  the  builders 
rejected  is  become  the  headstone  of  the  corner," 
and  warns  them  against  the  fate  upon  which  they 
are  heedlessly  rushing.  The  rejected  stone  may 
prove  a  stumbling-block  to  the  unwary,  but  it  can 
also  be  used  as  a  terrible  missile  crushing  into  dust 
the  man  against  whom  it  is  hurled.  They  may, 
if  they  will,  reject  the  Messiah  of  promise,  and 
deliver  Him  over  to  the  Roman  power  to  be 
crucified   as  a  malefactor,  but  the  awful   fate  of 


224  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST   xix 

Jerusalem  is  looming  for  themselves.  If  looks 
could  have  killed,  He  v^ould  there  and  then  have 
shared  the  fate  of  the  heir  which  He  has  so 
graphically  described,  but  they  are  cowards  at 
heart.  The  temper  of  the  crowd  is  too  dangerous 
to  be  trifled  with  ;  so  for  the  present  they  must 
bide  their  time,  and  conceal  as  best  they  can  the 
confusion  with  which  He  has  covered  them. 


XX 

PSEUDO-CONSCIENTIOUS    OBJECTORS 
Matt.  xxii.  15-22  ;  Mark  xii.  13-17  ;  Luke  xx.  20-26. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  words  are  common 
property  which  any  one  is  entitled  to  use.  Words 
are  coins  issued  by  different  mints,  and  phrases  are 
cheques  on  varied  banks.  There  ought  to  be  an 
unwritten,  but  none  the  less  stringent  law  of  copy- 
right in  words,  so  that  only  those  who  can  prove 
their  right  to  them  should  be  allowed  to  use  them. 
To  debase  the  current  coin  of  thought  is  a  greater 
crime  than  to  debase  the  currency  of  the  realm.  If 
authors  and  pressmen,  to  say  nothing  of  the  general 
public,  were  liable  to  prosecution,  how  few  would 
escape  conviction.  The  reading  public,  however, 
ought  to  be  sufficiently  keen  to  detect  the  counter- 
feit coin,  and  shun  the  man  who  makes  a  literary 
profession  by  tampering  with  the  currency  of 
thought.  The  cheque,  however,  cannot  be  so  easily 
detected.  It  has  to  be  presented  for  payment  before 
it  can  be  endorsed, — No  effects.  There  are  certain 
words  and  ideas  which  derive  all  their  value  from 

22s  Q 


226  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     xx 

the  bank  which  issues  them,  and  the  man  who  has 
no  account  with  the  particular  bank  upon  which 
the    cheque    is    drawn,  has  no    right    to  issue  it. 
Cheques  which  are  payable  in  the  gold  currency  of 
moral  and  spiritual  thought  should  not  be  received 
from  men  who  have  no  account  with  the  bank,  or 
whose  cheques  are  drawn  on  a  bank  with  which  it 
has  no  relations.     One  of  the  chief  advantages  of 
controversy  is  the  collection  of  cheques  and  their 
presentation  for  payment.      The  much-talked- of 
controversy   between  religion  and    science    would 
lose  much  of  its  bitterness  if  the  religious  writer 
who  draws  cheques  which  are  only  payable  in  the 
currency  of  scientific  thought  would  send  all  such 
cheques  to   the  proper  bank,  and  be  particularly 
careful  not  to  overdraw  his  account.    Similarly  the 
scientific  writer  who  draws  cheques  only  payable  in 
the  currency  of  religious  thought  should  be  equally 
particular  to  see  that  he  has  a  balance  at  the  bank 
upon  which  his  cheque  is  drawn.     The  two  banks 
are  separate  but    not  opposed  ;    the  coins  which 
come  from  the  two  mints  are  of  different  metals, 
but  there  is  a  fixed  relation  between  them.     The 
interests  of  true  thought  demand  that  the  language 
currency   should    be   honestly   dealt    with.      The 
counterfeit    coin    and    the    spurious    cheque    may 
circulate  a  long  time,  but  they  are  bound  to  be 
exposed  in  the  end.     In  the  meantime,  however, 
they  may  have  caused  the  ruin  of  many  who  have 
handled  them. 


XX        A  PERVERTED  CONSCIENCE      227 

The  Pharisees  who  consulted  with  the  Herodians 
how  they  might  entrap  Christ  in  His  conversation, 
were  adepts  in  the  uttering  of  base  coin  and  the 
issuing  of  spurious  cheques  on  the  bank  of  thought. 
Their  action  was  a  conspiracy,  their  instruments 
consisted  of  counterfeit  coins  and  spurious  cheques. 
They  wished  to  use  Him  as  their  dupe,  upon  whom 
they  might  palm  off  their  counterfeits,  and  then 
either  expose  Him  to  the  public,  or  denounce  Him 
to  the  authorities.  With  the  cunning  of  dealers 
in  deceit,  they  sought  by  flattery  to  bait  the 
hook  by  which  they  hoped  to  catch  their  victim. 
"  Teacher,"  they  said,  "  we  know  that  you  are  a 
truthful  man,  and  that  you  teach  God's  way  in 
truth.  You  care  for  no  man's  person,  and  are 
indifferent  to  what  men  think.  Tell  us,  therefore, 
what  is  your  real  opinion.  Is  it  lawful  to  pay 
tribute  to  Cassar  or  not  ?  "  There  was  something 
sinister  in  the  conjunction  of  two  such  opposed 
parties  as  the  Pharisees  and  the  Herodians.  The 
coins  which  such  a  union  issued  would  need  very 
careful  examination.  There  is  hardly  a  single 
word  which  rings  true.  They  give  Him  the  title 
of  Teacher,  hoping  to  represent  Him  as  an 
agitator  ;  they  suggest  that  He  speaks  the  truth, 
that  they  may  be  able  to  charge  Him  with  treason  ; 
they  talk  religion,  that  they  may  induce  Him  to 
speak  on  politics ;  they  praise  Him  for  His 
impartiality,  with  the  intention  of  convicting  Him 
of  disloyalty  ;  they  solicit  a  confidence,  with  the 


228  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     xx 

express  purpose  of  betraying  it.  A  common 
religious  hatred  has  swamped  for  the  time  being 
their  mutual  political  enmity.  They  have  each 
united  to  ask  a  question  for  the  very  purpose  of 
betraying  to  the  other  side  the  very  man  who,  by 
His  answer,  shows  that  He  agrees  with  them. 
If  His  answer  shows  that  He  is  at  one  with  the 
Pharisee,  the  Pharisee  will  joyfully  hand  Him^over 
to  the  Herodian.  If  it  shows  Him  in  agreement 
with  the  Herodian,  the  Herodian  will  as  gladly 
betray  Him  to  the  Pharisee.  The  chief  priests  and 
elders  who  had  been  so  discomfited  by  Christ's 
question  as  to  the  baptism  of  John,  had  been  struck 
with  the  skill  by  which  He  had  impaled  them  on 
the  horns  of  a  dilemma.  Could  they  not  turn  the 
tables  upon  Him,  and  by  the  use  of  a  cunningly 
contrived  question,  place  Him  in  a  similar  position  ^ 
They  constructed  their  question  accordingly,  and 
sent  their  disciples  along  with  the  Herodians,  while 
they  waited  with  eagerness  to  see  upon  which  of 
the  horns  of  their  dilemma  He  would  impale 
Himself 

There  is  the  withering  scorn  of  an  honest  heart, 
and  the  righteous  contempt  of  a  clear  intellect,  for 
the  knavery  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  obtuseness 
on  the  other.  "  Hypocrites  !  Why  are  you  trying 
to  trap  Me  ?  Your  disguise  is  too  transparent  ; 
the  net  is  openly  spread  in  the  sight  of  the  bird. 
Pharisee  !  and  condescending  to  argue  on  such  a 
question  as  paying  tribute  to  Caesar  !     Follower  of 


XX        A  PERVERTED  CONSCIENCE      229 

the  party  of  Herod  !  that  puppet  of  Rome !  and 
questioning  the  legality  of  paying  taxes !  "  The 
fraud  is  too  evident,  the  masks  instead  of  conceal- 
ing, reveal  the  features.  The  carefully  constructed 
dilemma  is  too  manifest,  the  horns  are  too 
prominent  and  naked.  "  Show  Me  the  current 
coin.  Lawful  ?  Tribute  ?  Cassar  ?  There  is  not 
a  single  coin  which  you  have  brought  which  is 
genuine.  What  is  your  idea  of  lawful  ?  What  do 
you  mean  by  tribute  ?  Who  is  the  Cassar  to  whom 
it  is  to  be  paid,'^"  He  knows  them  too  well  to 
allow  them  to  substitute  other  counterfeits  for 
those  which  He  has  detected.  "Show  Me  the  money 
that  passes  current,  which  does  not  depend  upon 
your  imprimatur.  Let  Me  see  the  thought  with 
which  you  deal  day  by  day,  not  the  words  you  use 
in  the  tricks  of  your  trade."  The  answer  is  no  clever 
and  ingenious  evasion.  He  might  fairly  and  honour- 
ably decline  to  answer  a  question  which  they  had  no 
right  to  ask,  and  which  He  had  no  need  to  answer. 
He  will  not,  however,  even  appear  to  shuffle  a 
difficulty,  far  less  follow  their  example  in  the  matter 
of  John's  baptism,  and  retreat  under  cover  of  a 
cowardly  lie.  There  is  an  answer  which  it  behoves 
these  men  to  know,  a  lesson  they  need  to  be  taught. 
His  eye,  however,  is  too  keen  to  pass  a  spurious 
cheque,  His  ear  is  too  acute  to  fail  to  detect  the 
false  ring  of  a  counterfeit  coin.  With  the  un- 
rivalled skill  of  a  perfect  master  in  the  art  of 
teaching,    He    first    elicits    from    the    pupil    the 


230  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     xx 

meaning  of  his  question.  What  was  their  concep- 
tion of  the  words  they  used  ?  Lawful  ?  What 
did  they  mean  by  it  ?  How  did  they  use  it  in  their 
daily  life  ?  They  sought  to  pose  as  conscientious 
objectors.  Where  was  this  tender  conscience  of 
theirs  in  the  daily  duties.  Was  it  asleep  when  the 
advantages  of  the  Roman  Government  manifested 
itself  in  the  privileges  and  comforts  of  their 
business  and  social  life,  and  only  awake  when  the 
tax-collector  demanded  his  dues  }  What  was  the 
current  coin  of  which  they  availed  themselves  in 
the  ordinary  affairs  of  life  }  This  would  define 
their  real  conception  of  the  lawful  and  the  unlawful. 
Let  them  produce  the  current  coin  of  the  bank 
upon  which  they  issued  their  cheque,  and  then  its 
true  value  could  be  ascertained. 

Abashed  by  the  quickness  with  which  He  had 
detected  the  object  of  their  temporary  union,  and 
the  purpose  of  their  question,  but  still  confident 
in  the  skilfulness  with  which  their  question  had 
been  constructed,  they  produced  the  denarius  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  "  Whose  likeness  and  superscrip- 
tion is  this  } "  He  asks  them.  It  was  a  coin, 
not  a  mere  piece  of  metal.  It  was  stamped  and 
inscribed  with  an  authority  which  guaranteed  its 
value.  Their  cheque  had  come  back  from  the 
bank,  and  the  current  coin  of  the  Roman  Empire 
was  in  His  hand.  It  was  the  coin  they  used  in 
their  daily  life,  its  authority  was  that  upon  which 
they  relied  in  all  their  transactions.     They  recog- 


XX        A  PERVERTED  CONSCIENCE      231 

nised  its  value,  and  demanded  a  just  equivalent  in 
exchange  for  it.  It  was  legal  tender,  and  they 
used  it  as  such.  It  was  legal,  however,  because  of 
the  likeness  and  superscription  which  was  stamped 
upon  it.  They  not  only  availed  themselves  of  the 
privilege  it  conferred  upon  them  as  a  medium  of 
exchange,  they  equally  took  advantage  of  the 
political  rights  and  privileges  which  their  relation 
to  the  Emperor,  whose  image  it  bore,  brought  to 
them.  They  were  not  conscientious  objectors  who 
refused  to  take  Government  aid,  but  political 
defaulters  who  refused  to  pay  for  the  aid  they  had 
already  taken.  They  relied  upon  Caesar's  authority 
for  the  value  of  the  money  they  used  ;  they  ques- 
tioned his  authority  to  demand  from  them  in 
return  a  moiety  for  the  upkeep  of  that  authority. 
Christ's  question  draws  out  from  their  reluctant 
lips  the  answer  which  convicts  them  of  incon- 
sistency and  insincerity.  They  are  compelled  to 
reply,  "  Cassar's."  Their  word — lawful — has  come 
back  with  the  impress  of  Cassar  upon  it.  Tribute 
has  been  returned  with  the  superscription  of  con- 
tribution written  upon  it.  Cassar  means,  as  they 
will  in  a  few  days  openly  boast,  that  they  have  no 
king  but  Caesar.  The  question  they  have  asked 
is  thus  taken  out  of  the  region  of  politics  and 
brought  into  the  domain  of  ethics.  Is  it  lawful  to 
take  something  for  nothing?  Is  it  allowable  to 
accept  Government  aid  and  refuse  to  pay  taxes  ? 
The   answer   is  incontrovertible.     "  Render  unto 


232  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     xx 

Cassai*  what  is  Caesar's.  Having  taken  the  privi- 
leges, assume  the  responsibilities.  Having  defined 
your  conception  of  what  is  lawful,  keep  to  it. 
If  it  is  lawful  to  take  Caesar's  doles,  it  is  lawful, 
and  indeed  imperative,  to  pay  Caesar's  dues."  The 
man  whose  current  coin  for  right  is  expediency, 
has  no  right  to  draw  cheques  on  the  bank  of  con- 
science. They  will  inevitably  be  returned  with 
the  fatal  endorsement, — No  effects.  The  man 
whose  conscience  does  not  forbid  him  taking  a 
Government  grant,  cannot  honestly  put  forward 
a  conscientious  objection  to  paying  Government 
taxes. 

They  have  secured  a  categorical  answer  to  their 
question,  but  not  such  as  they  anticipated.  They 
have  got  one  of  the  two  answers  they  expected, 
but  in  such  a  way  that  they  can  make  no  use  of  it. 
Instead  of  convicting  Him  of  insurrection,  they 
have  convicted  themselves  of  inconsistency.  They 
have  covered  themselves  with  the  very  confusion 
with  which  they  had  hoped  to  cover  Him.  They 
can  neither  justify  themselves  nor  can  they  entangle 
Him.  Later  on  they  will  unblushingly  perjure 
themselves  by  boldly  declaring  that  He  taught  that 
it  was  not  lawful  to  pay  tribute,  but  at  present  they 
are  too  dumbfounded  at  His  reply  to  say  a  word. 
He  does  not,  however,  leave  them  with  the  answer 
to  the  question  they  have  asked.  He  answers  the 
question  which  they  had  no  intention  of  asking. 
*'  Render  unto  Caesar  what  is  Caesar's,  and  to  God 


XX        A  PERVERTED  CONSCIENCE      233 

what  is  God's''  To  these  pseudo-conscientious 
objectors  He  has  a  word  to  say  about  that  con- 
science for  which  they  profess  so  much  reverence. 
There  is  another  kind  of  tribute-money  which 
bears  a  very  different  image  and  superscription. 
He  too  will  ask  them  a  question,  not  with  any 
intention  of  entrapping  them  in  their  speech,  but 
in  honesty  and  sincerity  of  heart.  "Is  it  right  to 
pay  tribute  to  hate  and  malice  ^ "  He  can  produce 
the  tribute-money  of  the  true  King,  the  current 
coin  of  His  own  daily  life.  The  conception  of 
right  is  that  which  bears  the  image  and  super- 
scription of  the  King  of  Kings.  How  does  the 
bitter  hate  and  malice  of  their  own  hearts  stand  in 
relation  to  the  law  of  loving  their  neighbour  as 
themselves  ?  How  does  their  refusal  to  accept 
the  truth,  stand  in  relation  to  the  law  of  loving 
God  with  all  their  heart  and  soul  and  mind  and 
strength  ^.  How  does  their  whole  life,  with  all 
the  blessing  they  receive  from  on  high,  stand  in 
relation  to  their  refusal  to  render  back  that  which 
belongs  to  God  ^  They  are  quibbling  about  the 
legality  of  paying  taxes  to  Cassar  whose  money 
they  use,  and  on  whose  authority  and  power  their 
national  existence  depends.  What  of  the  tribute 
that  is  due  to  God  for  their  religious  and  spiritual 
privileges  ?  If  it  is  lawful  to  give  to  Caesar  what 
is  Caesar's,  is  it  right  to  withhold  from  God  what 
is  God's  }  Will  they  strain  out  the  gnat  and 
swallow  the  camel .?     The  appeal  is  to  their  own 


234  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST     xx 

consciences,  and  it  is  unanswerable.  They  heard 
and  were  amazed  ;  they  listened  and  were  dumb. 
The  conspiracy  has  failed,  the  base  coin  of  their 
thought  is  returned  to  their  hands.  Instead  of 
separating  with  mutual  congratulations,  the  union 
is  dissolved  in  silence,  and  Pharisee  and  Herodian 
go  each  their  own  way,  amazed  at  the  consummate 
ease  with  which  the  Galilean  Peasant  has  extricated 
Himself  from  the  net  they  had  so  cunningly  woven 
to  entrap  Him.  His  appeal  to  their  conscience 
has  been  in  vain,  for  it  is  seared  as  with  a  hot 
iron.  In  a  few  days  they  will  accomplish  by  wilful 
perjury  what  they  have  failed  to  do  by  the  cunning 
of  deceit,  and  will  confidently  affirm  that  He 
declared  it  was  unlawful  to  give  tribute  to 
Caesar.  "They  left  Him  and  went  their  way." 
Shame  and  confusion  drove  them  away,  hatred  and 
malice  directed  their  steps.  They  would  confront 
Him  once  more  with  a  lie  on  their  lips  and  murder 
in  their  hearts,  and  joyfully  acknowledge  Caesar's 
authority  if  only  Pilate  will  deliver  Jesus  into  their 
hands.  They  will  hesitate  to  go  into  the  judg- 
ment hall  lest  they  should  be  defiled,  but  they  will 
eagerly  cry,  "  His  blood  be  upon  us  and  our 
children." 


XXI 

POSITIVISTS 
Matt.  xxii.  23-33  ;  Mark  xil.  18-27  5  Luke  xx.  27-40. 

Men  form  opinions,  but  opinions  also  form  men. 
The  one  is  the  reflex  action  of  the  other.  While 
it  is  unfair  to  judge  any  man  by  his  opinions,  the 
influence  of  his  opinions,  which  is  seen  in  his 
character,  will  always  either  justify  or  condemn 
the  man.  Opinion  merely  indicates  the  type  of 
mind,  the  power  of  correct  or  incorrect  reasoning 
which  the  man  possesses.  The  reflex  action  of  his 
opinions  shows  his  character,  the  kind  of  man 
he  actually  is.  Opinion  belongs  to  the  mental, 
character  to  the  moral  plane.  Opinion  is  subject 
to  criticism,  character  comes  up  for  judgment. 
On  the  mental  plane  freeciom  to  speculate  is  liberty 
to  think  for  oneself ;  on  the  moral  plane  freedom 
to  experiment  is  license  to  live  for  oneself.  The 
reason  of  humanity  protects  itself  on  the  mental 
plane  by  means  of  its  logic.  The  conscience  of 
humanity  vindicates  itself  on  the  moral  plane  by 
means  of  its  categorical   imperatives.      Errors  in 

23s 


236  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    xxi 

opinion  are  suits  which  must  be  filed  in  the  civil 
court  of  the  Reason  ;  errors  in  character  are 
criminal  cases  which  must  be  brought  before  the 
bar  of  Conscience.  In  the  one  court  the  claims 
are  adjudicated  ;  in  the  other  the  man  is  acquitted 
or  condemned. 

Opinions,  however,  are  not  merely  passive,  they 
are  active  as  well.  It  is  in  this  latter  capacity  that 
they  are  often  aiders  and  abettors,  accomplices  or 
accessories  before  the  act,  and  as  such  are  liable  to 
prosecution  in  the  criminal  court  of  Conscience. 
There  is  a  relation  between  opinion  and  conduct 
in  some  cases,  of  which  the  conscience  of  humanity 
cannot  be  oblivious.  It  regards  the  world  as 
subject  to  a  moral  government,  as  designed  for 
moral  ends,  and  therefore  it  judges  of  things  by 
their  effects.  It  holds  that  the  true  is  the  beautiful 
in  the  sphere  of  mind,  and  that  the  beautiful  is  the 
true  in  the  sphere  of  morals.  It  concludes  there- 
fore that  what  is  true  on  the  mental  plane  must  be 
beautiful  on  the  moral  plane,  and  vice  versa.  In 
cases  in  which  the  result  is  pronounced  this  is  fully 
recognised.  The  Indian  Government,  whose  toler- 
ance is  unquestioned,  condemned  the  religious 
opinion  of  the  Hindus  with  regard  to  Suttee, 
because  of  this  connection  between  opinion  and 
conduct.  The  conduct  outraged  the  moral  sense, 
and  therefore  no  argument  based  on  liberty  of 
religious  belief  was  admissible.  When  esoteric 
belief  translates  itself  into  exoteric  ritual,  it  emerges 


XXI 


POSITIVISTS  237 


from  the  mental  to  the  moral  plane,  and  becomes 
amenable  to  the  moral  tribunal.  In  cases,  however, 
which  are  not  so  pronounced  the  same  feeling  is 
present,  though  it  manifests  itself  in  a  different 
way.  Beliefs  must  always  be  more  or  less  judged 
by  their  tendencies  and  influences.  Humanity 
is  more  practical  than  theoretical.  The  rule  of 
thumb  is  more  often  used  than  the  mathematical 
formula  ;  the  distance  is  more  often  stepped  than 
measured.  Men  are  more  inclined  to  accept  an 
opinion  as  true,  which  produces  a  character  which 
is  beautiful,  than  the  reverse.  Just  as  that  which 
makes  for  life  in  the  physical  realm  is  stamped  with 
Nature's  approval,  so  that  which  makes  for  a  richer 
life  is  stamped  with  Humanity's  approval.  Where 
a  mathematical  demonstration  is  impossible,  a  moral 
conviction  has  an  imperative  value.  What  the 
Pure  Reason  may  be  forced  to  reject,  the  Practical 
Reason  is  forced  to  accept.  There  are  some  truths 
which  are  arrived  at  by  a  process  of  deduction, 
there  are  others  which  the  mind  seizes  and  clings 
to  by  intuition.  Just  as  instinct  in  the  animal  is 
the  forerunner  of  reason  in  the  man,  so  intuition 
may  be  the  forerunner  of  a  higher  reason  yet  to  be 
evolved.  The  belief  in  immortality  is  not  the 
result  of  a  deductive  process  of  the  reason,  it  is  an 
intuition  of  the  soul  which  abundantly  justifies 
itself  by  the  results  it  produces  in  character  and 
life.  It  is  not  a  desire  for  mere  existence  ;  it  is  a 
striving  for  a  richer  and  fuller  life.    Evolution  has 


238  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    xxi 

shown  us  that  Nature  does  not  deceive  her  children, 
but  that  she  always  has  a  satisfaction  for  the  desire 
she  creates.  The  striving  is  the  earnest  of  the 
attainment ;  the  anticipation  is  the  prophecy  of  a 
fulfilment.  If  she  teaches  us  anything,  she  teaches 
that  life  is  an  ascent  to  a  higher  and  ever  higher 
manifestation.  She  always  has  a  goal  to  be 
attained,  and  she  inspires  her  children  by  planting 
within  them  the  aspiration  for  something  yet 
beyond.  She  is  herself  responsible  for  the  belief 
in  immortality,  and  unless  she  is  false  to  all  our 
knowledge  of  her  working,  she  must  fulfil  the 
desire  she  has  implanted. 

The  Sadducees  who  came  to  Christ  with  their 
question  about  the  Resurrection,  were  materialists 
whose  creed  had  coarsened  and  not  refined  them. 
The  Sadducee  was  the  Positivist  of  the  pre- 
Christian  era,  who  rigidly  excluded  from  his  belief 
everything  outside  the  range  of  sense  perception. 
As  a  party  they  were  intensely  religious  and 
moral.  If  the  deputation  who  waited  upon  Christ, 
however,  is  fairly  representative  of  the  class,  we  are 
forced  to  conclude  that  their  view  of  life  was  a 
distinctly  low  one.  Their  lack  of  faith  in 
immortality  had  degraded  their  conception  of 
human  life  to  that  of  mere  animal  existence. 
They  were  keenly  ahve  to  animal  instincts,  but 
dead  to  those  higher  instincts  of  the  soul  which 
differentiate  man  from  the  animal.  In  con- 
templating a  future  life,  therefore,  they  conceived 


XXI  POSITIVISTS  239 

of  it  merely  as  a  continuation  of  the  physical,  not 
as  a  richer  and  fuller  life  of  the  spiritual.  In 
place  of  the  sublime  they  saw  only  the  ridiculous, 
and  they  accordingly  sought  to  confute  the  belief 
by  reducing  it  to  an  absurdity.  "  Teacher,''  they 
said,  ''  Moses  enjoined  that  if  a  man  should  die 
childless,  his  brother  should  marry  his  widow,  and 
raise  up  a  family  for  him.  Now  we  had  among 
us  seven  brothers.  The  eldest  married,  but  died 
childless,  leaving  his  wife  to  his  brother.  So  also 
did  the  second  and  the  third,  down  to  the  seventh. 
After  surviving  them  all,  the  woman  also  died. 
At  the  resurrection,  therefore,  to  which  of  the 
seven  will  she  belong,  for  they  all  married  her.^" 
Their  reference  to  the  Law  is  not  merely  to  give 
legality  to  the  supposed  action  of  the  brothers,  it  is 
intended  to  emphasise  what  in  their  opinion  was 
the  only  immortality  the  Law  taught,  namely,  the 
immortality  of  the  family.  The  law  was  instituted 
to  secure  that  the  family  should  not  become  extinct. 
Their  contention,  therefore,  is  that  the  belief 
in  individual  immortality  is  not  only  an  absurdity, 
but  is  in  contradiction  to  the  direct  teaching  of 
the  Law.  The  reductio  ad  ahsurdum  is  a  legiti- 
mate form  of  argument,  but  the  user  must  be 
careful  that  the  absurdity  is  in  the  conclusion 
deduced,  and  not  in  the  premisses  assumed.  The 
sublime  may  appear  to  be  the  ridiculous,  but  it 
may  be  entirely  due  to  the  transfiguring  medium. 
The  mind  which  perceives,  may  be  like  a  concave 


240  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    xxi 

or  convex  mirror,  which  distorts  the  object 
presented  to  it.  These  men  had  not  faithfully 
reflected  the  belief  in  immortality,  they  had 
distorted  it ;  the  belief  did  not  produce  the 
difficulty,  they  invented  it.  They  were  not 
anxious  to  understand  another's  position,  they 
were  simply  desirous  of  ridiculing  it. 

There  is  a  dignity  in  Christ's  answer,  and  a 
refinement  in  His  manner  of  dealing  with  the 
question,  which  are  in  marked  contrast  with  the 
coarseness  of  His  interviewers.  He  recognises  that 
their  plane  of  thought  is  different  from  His  own, 
that  their  conception  of  life  needs  elevating  and 
ennobling.  Their  coarseness  is  due  to  ignorance 
both  of  the  Scriptures  they  profess  to  read,  and  of 
the  power  of  the  God  they  profess  to  worship. 
They  do  not  realise  that  the  particular  law  which 
they  quote  was  instituted  to  ensure  the  preservation 
of  the  nation  for  its  mission  in  the  world.  Their 
view  is  bounded  by  the  present  :  they  cannot  see 
the  difference  between  the  temporary  and  the 
eternal,  the  physical  and  the  spiritual.  They  have 
no  conception  of  any  higher  life  than  that  of 
sensual  gratification  and  self-propagation.  They 
need  to  be  reminded  that  there  is  a  higher  and 
richer  life,  like  that  of  the  angels  in  Heaven,  who 
live  to  serve,  and  who  in  service  find  a  perpetual 
joy.  The  future  life  is  not  a  prolongation  of  the 
physical,  it  is  an  intensification  of  the  spiritual.  It 
is  lived  not  on  the  plane  of  the  material,  but  on 


XXI  POSITIVISTS  241 

that  of  the  spiritual.  The  conditions  of  the  one 
are  inapplicable  to  the  other.  "  You  are  in  error," 
He  answers,  "  through  ignorance  of  the  Scriptures 
and  of  the  power  of  God.  For  in  the  Resurrection, 
men  neither  marry  nor  are  women  given  in 
marriage,  but  they  are  like  angels  in  Heaven." 
The  laws  which  regulate  earthly  institutions  are 
not  to  be  applied  to  heavenly  conditions.  The 
relation  between  spirits  cannot  be  judged  by  means 
of  the  relation  between  bodies,  any  more  than  the 
relations  between  atoms  can  be  applied  to  explain 
the  relations  between  individuals.  The  gross  and 
materialistic  conception  which  is  responsible  for 
the  difficulty  they  invent,  is  not  applicable  to  the 
spiritual  conception  involved  in  the  resurrection. 
If  they  wish  to  understand  this  latter,  they  must 
rid  their  minds  of  the  former.  The  formulas  of 
physical  science  cannot  be  applied  to  psychical 
phenomena.  The  man  who  does  so  will  err 
through  not  knowing  what  science  really  is. 
These  men  were  trying  to  apply  the  law  of 
succession  designed  for  a  life  subject  to  death,  to 
the  life  which  was  not  subject  to  death  but  was 
immortal.  The  absurdity  lay  not  in  the  conclusion 
they  deduced  from  the  belief  in  immortality,  but 
in  the  premisses  they  constructed. 

Christ  is  not  content,  however,  with  merely  ex- 
posing their  ignorance,  He  seeks  to  convince  them 
of  the  truth  of  the  belief  they  have  assailed.  His 
argument  is  neither  philosophical  on  the  one  hand, 


242  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    xxi 

nor  is  it  a  mere  verbal  quibble  on  the  other.  It 
is  an  appeal  to  the  intuitions  of  the  race.  He 
relates  the  belief  in  immortality  to  our  knowledge 
of  the  character  of  God,  and  thereby  attests  the 
truth  of  the  intuition  upon  which  the  belief  is 
based.  Humanity  has  persistently  refused  to 
regard  its  great  men  as  extinct.  It  has  deified  and 
worshipped  them,  but  it  has  never  really  treated 
them  as  though  they  had  ceased  to  be.  To  apply 
a  scientific  phrase,  it  has  believed  in  the  persistence 
of  force,  and  having  recognised  a  force  in  the  lives 
of  its  great  men,  as  that  was  manifested  in  their 
earthly  lives,  it  has  instinctively  felt  that  the  force, 
though  no  longer  visible,  was  active  and  energising 
elsewhere.  The  Sadducees  might  deny  the  truth  of 
the  Resurrection,  but  they  shared  in  the  instincts 
of  the  nation,  and  the  nation  regarded  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob,  as  living  and  not  dead.  "  But 
that  the  dead  rise  to  life  again,  even  Moses  clearly 
implies  in  the  passage  about  the  Bush,  where  he 
calls  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of 
Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob.  God  is  not  a  God 
of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living."  The  instincts  of 
humanity  are  true  intuitions.  The  relation  which 
subsists  between  God  and  man,  and  which  is  so 
pronounced  in  the  case  of  the  spiritually  great  men 
of  the  past,  is  a  guarantee  of  their  immortality. 
If  the  relation  is  real  it  must  be  permanent.  It  is 
the  consciousness  of  man's  kinship  to  God  which 
distinguishes   him    from    the    mere    animal.     He 


XXI  POSITIVISTS  243 

enters  into  communion  and  fellowship  with  God  ; 
he  is  admitted  into  intimate  relation  with  the 
Father.  The  character  of  God  forbids  the  concep- 
tion that  having  once  admitted  man  to  the  intimacy 
of  friendship,  He  would  allow  the  relationship  to 
be  dissolved.  God  cannot  be  bereft  of  His 
children  ;  His  heart  cannot  be  impoverished  by 
loss.  It  is  not  merely  to  the  constitution  of  man's 
nature,  therefore,  that  Christ  points  as  a  proof  of 
his  immortality,  it  is  upon  the  nature  of  God  that 
He  bases  the  assurance.  It  is  not  therefore  so 
much  a  question  as  to  whether  man's  constitution 
can  survive  the  shock  of  death,  as  it  is  whether  it 
is  consistent  with  the  nature  of  God  for  Him  to 
sustain  the  loss.  The  Sadducees  erred  because  they 
did  not  recognise  the  power  of  God.  They  did 
not  realise  that  human  love  experiences  the  bitter- 
ness of  bereavement,  because  it  has  not  the  power 
to  recall  the  lost  one.  We  refuse  to  believe  that 
those  whom  we  have  loved  and  lost  are  extinct, 
or  that  the  relationship  we  sustained  with  them 
has  exhausted  itself.  If  we  had  but  the  power  it 
should  never  cease  ;  if  their  response  depended 
upon  us,  it  would  be  eternal.  Divine  love  has  the 
power  ;  the  relationship  is  not  that  of  the  hold 
of  man  upon  God,  but  the  hold  of  God  upon  man. 
Love  never  faileth,  and  therefore  the  life  of  love 
never  ceaseth.  God  was  the  God  of  Abraham,  but 
Abraham  was  the  friend  of  God.  The  relationship 
was  real,  and  therefore  it  was  eternal.    "  God  is  not  a 


244  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST    xxi 

God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living,  for  to  Him  all 
are  alive."  The  argument  is  unique,  but  it  is 
characteristic  of  Christ.  It  is  based  upon  His  own 
consciousness  of  the  relation  between  Himself  and 
the  Father,  which  He  knew  was  indissoluble.  He 
defines  eternal  life  as  the  consciousness  of  the 
relation  of  the  soul  to  God.  *'  Eternal  life  consists 
in  this, — in  knowing  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus 
Christ  whom  God  has  sent."  Christ  takes  therefore 
the  intuitions  of  the  race,  and  interprets  them  in  the 
light  of  His  own  personal  consciousness  of  the 
relation  between  Himself  and  God.  Intuitions  of 
men  are  the  prophecy,  of  which  His  own  conscious- 
ness is  the  fulfilment. 

The  modern  theory  of  evolution,  rightly 
interpreted,  adds  emphasis  to  these  remarkable 
words  of  Christ.  It  shows  man  to  be  the  crown 
and  head  of  the  great  process  of  Nature.  Con- 
sciousness is  his  great  attainment  ;  religion  is  his 
great  achievement.  He  alone  of  all  creation  has 
worked  his  way  up  to  a  conscious  relation  with 
God.  That  relation  once  established,  his  truer 
and  fuller  life  is  no  longer  a  correspondence  between 
his  physical  frame  and  its  material  environment  ;  it 
is  a  correspondence  between  his  soul  and  God. 
Immortality  therefore  is  simply  the  development 
and  perfection  of  the  relation  which  has  been 
established.  The  environment  of  the  soul  is  not 
an  ever-changing  Matter,  subject  to  variable  forces, 
but  the  Unchanging  and  Eternal  God.     While  the 


XXI  POSITIVISTS  245 

old  environment  of  his  physical  frame  necessitated 
sooner  or  later  its  dissolution,  the  new  environment, 
God,  guarantees  his  immortality.  The  cause  of 
his  physical  death  is  not,  strictly  speaking,  in  him- 
self, but  in  his  environment  ;  his  dissolution  is  the 
result  of  the  operation  of  external  forces.  The 
guarantee  of  his  continuance  must  be  sought  in  a 
new  environment, — in  God,  in  whom  "  we  live,  and 
move,  and  have  our  being."  God  is  not  God  to 
dead  and  unconscious  matter  ;  He  is  God  to 
conscious  and  living  minds  alone,  and  all  such 
minds  are  for  ever  alive  to  Him. 


XXII 


A    MORAL    SCEPTIC 


Matt,  xxvii.  11-26  ;  Mark  xv.  1-15  ;  Luke  xxiii.  1-24  ; 
John  xviii.  28-xix.  16. 

The  examinations  in  the  school  of  life  are  never 
notified  in  advance.  We  are  generally  taken  by 
surprise,  and  the  announcement  of  our  success  or 
failure  is,  as  a  rule,  the  first  intimation  we  receive 
that  the  examination  has  taken  place.  They  are 
tests  which  are  appHed,  not  to  our  theories  of  life, 
but  to  our  practical  living  ;  they  demonstrate,  not 
the  amount  of  knowledge  we  have  gained,  but  the 
quality  of  the  character  we  have  formed.  We  are 
summoned  to  no  specified  place,  but  the  examination 
takes  place  in  any  one  of  our  accustomed  haunts 
of  business  or  of  pleasure.  It  is  limited  to  no  one 
department  of  life,  but  may  take  place  in  any  ; 
it  is  confined  to  no  particular  branch  of  study  or 
kind  of  occupation,  it  may  embrace  them  all,  or 
select  a  few,  or  even  one.  The  examiners  may  be 
found  amongst  our  friends  or  acquaintances,  or 
even  amongst  our  enemies,  but  the  result  is  never 

246 


XXII  A  MORAL  SCEPTIC  247 

open  to  question.  Success  is  often  as  much  of  a 
surprise  as  failure.  Everything  depends  upon  our 
preparedness,  not  for  a  formal  examination,  but 
for  a  certain  effort  we  are  called  upon  to  make. 
Though  the  examination  is  sprung  suddenly  upon 
us,  it  is  never  unfair,  for  it  is  always  concerned 
with  the  lessons  which  experience  ought  to  have 
taught  us.  Character  is  a  perfect  memory,  and 
nothing  that  has  ever  been  really  learned  is  lost. 
Examinations  are  practically  always  taking  place, 
but  it  is  only  occasionally  that  something  in  the 
event. itself  distinguishes  it  as  a  special  test,  and 
success  or  failure  is  written  legibly  against  our 
names.  If  we  could  only  recognise  that  particular 
something  in  the  common  event  which  is  destined 
to  make  it  one  of  the  test  examinations  of  our 
life,  how  careful  we  should  be  in  the  part  we 
played,  but,  alas  !  for  reputation  so  gained,  it  is 
hid  from  our  eyes. 

Not  an  ear  in  court  or  market  for  the  low  foreboding  cry 
Of  those  Crises,   God's  stern  winnowers,  from  whose   feet 

earth's  chaff  must  fly  ; 
Never  shows   the  choice  momentous  till   the  judgment    has 

passed  by. 

The  Present  is  not  and  cannot  stand  alone  ;  it  is  in- 
dissolubly  connected  with  the  Past  and  the  Future. 
History  alone  has  the  true  perspective  by  which  to 
judge  what  is  relatively  great  or  little,  what  is 
of  vital  moment  and  what  is  of  no  consequence. 
That  which  we  have  regarded  as  trifling,  history 


248  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xxii 

may  dignify  as  of  supreme  importance  ;  that  which 
we  have  thought  great,  may  turn  out  to  be 
infinitesimal.  Our  only  safety  lies  in  giving  heed 
to  that  which  is  permanent  and  unchanging, — the 
moral  quality  of  our  deeds  ;  in  listening  to  the  still 
small  voice  of  our  own  conscience, — that  echo  of 
the  voice  of  God  within  the  soul.  Truth  is  not 
temporary  but  eternal ;  right  is  not  the  expedient 
but  the  just. 

Whether  the  crisis  produces  the  great  man,  or 
the  great  man  makes  the  crisis,  will  always  be  a 
matter  of  dispute.  Probably  there  is  as  much  to 
be  said  for  the  one  contention  as  for  the  other. 
However  that  may  be,  there  is  no  more  pitiable 
spectacle  than  the  conjunction  of  a  time  momentous 
with  great  events,  and  a  man  or  nation  utterly 
unequal  to  the  demands  which  their  time  and  place 
make  upon  them.  Perhaps  of  all  the  cases  which 
history  records  of  this  disparity,  that  of  Pilate 
stands  out  the  most  prominent.  The  supreme 
event  in  the  history  of  humanity  is  designated  as 
happening  "  under  Pontius  Pilate.'*  How  little 
did  he  foresee  when  he  rejoiced  in  his  appointment 
as  Governor  of  Judaea,  that  the  event  which  was 
to  happen  during  his  rule,  would  cover  his  name 
with  everlasting  reproach.  If  ever  a  man  was 
unprepared  for  a  great  destiny  it  was  Pilate.  One 
cannot  but  feel  infinite  pity  for  the  man,  so  utterly 
and  hopelessly  incapable,  who  was  thus  suddenly 
tried  by  an  event  destined  to  prove  of  world-wide 


xxn  A  MORAL  SCEPTIC  249 

significance.  His  failure,  however,  is  no  more  and 
no  less  than  that  of  thousands  like  him.  It  has 
wider  publication  because  his  victim  was  unique, 
but  as  far  as  Pilate  is  concerned,  his  failure  has 
no  more  moral  significance  than  the  thousand 
similar  failures  which  are  taking  place  every 
day.  He  stands  condemned,  not  for  having 
sacrificed  the  Christ,  but  for  having  in  the 
interests  of  a  false  expediency  sacrificed  his 
conscience.  His  failure  was  not  in  being 
unable  to  release  Jesus,  but  in  being  unwilling 
to  give  effect  to  his  own  judgment  of  acquittal. 
His  weakness  is  not  in  any  intellectual  scepticism 
as  to  the  truth,  but  in  being  unwilling  through 
cowardice  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  the  truth  he 
recognised. 

All  the  accounts  given  us  of  Pilate^s  character 
and  official  administration  are  in  the  closest  agree- 
ment with  the  picture  of  the  man  so  graphically 
depicted  in  the  Synoptics,  and  especially  in  the 
Johannine  Gospel.  That  utter  contempt  for  the 
Jew,  expressed  in  his  reply,  "Am  I  a  Jew  ? "  is 
manifested  at  the  very  beginning  of  his  career, 
when  he  allowed  his  soldiers  to  bring  into  the  Holy 
City  the  silver  eagles  and  other  insignia  of  the 
legions.  Having  thereby  aroused  the  fanatical 
passions  of  the  people,  he  displays  that  same  weak- 
ness of  character  which  is  evident  in  the  Gospel 
interviews,  by  yielding  to  the  tumult  he  had 
himself  aroused,  and  sending  the  images  back  again 


250  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xxu 

to  Caesarea.  The  same  disregard  for  religious 
ideas  of  all  kinds  which  meets  us  in  the 
Gospel  story,  is  manifested  in  the  account  which 
is  given  us  of  his  application  of  the  Temple 
money  in  the  construction  of  an  aqueduct  from 
the  Pools  of  Solomon. 

Perhaps  the  nearest  parallel  that  can  be  found 
to  the  position  in  which  Pilate  found  himself,  is 
that  of  a  District  Magistrate  in  India,  who,  having 
given  up  all  religious  belief  himself,  is  profoundly 
contemptuous  of  the  superstitions  he  finds  in 
India,  and  particularly  irritated  by  the  constant 
unrest  due  to  the  fanatical  spirit  of  Hindu  and 
Mohammedan.  Such  men  soon  find  themselves 
thwarted  and  hindered,  misunderstood  and  mis- 
judged, because  from  their  very  character  and  type 
of  mind  they  cannot  understand  or  sympathise  with 
the  people  over  whom  they  have  to  rule.  They 
speedily  settle  down  into  a  purely  selfish  life,  and 
their  views  become  both  pessimistic  and  cynical. 
They  are  hopeless  of  doing  any  good,  even  if  they 
have  any  strong  wish  in  the  matter.  In  their 
earlier  career  they  may  perhaps  have  brought  upon 
themselves  a  reprimand  for  some  well-intentioned 
but  ill-considered  scheme  or  intervention,  and  their 
chief  desire  now  is  to  confine  themselves  to  the 
ordinary  routine  of  their  office,  finish  the  time  of 
exile  from  their  native  land  at  the  earliest  oppor- 
tunity, and  retire  on  their  pension.  Imagine  such 
a  type  of  man  finding  himself  suddenly  involved 


XXII  A  MORAL  SCEPTIC  251 

in  some  religious  controversy  with  a  semi-political 
element  thrown  in,  and  a  serious  riot  or  insurrection 
threatened,  and  you  have  the  case  of  Pilate  in 
modern  dress.  Such  a  man  has  no  strong  moral 
or  religious  feeling  to  guide  him ;  he  may  be  quite 
conscious  that  there  is  something  kept  in  the 
background,  that  the  motives  of  the  Brahmins  are 
purely  obstructive  and  mischievous,  and  that  the 
case  they  have  brought  before  him  is  concerned 
with  nothing  more  serious  than  the  efforts  of  a 
religious  reformer  who  has  in  some  way  offended 
or  outraged  their  priestly  pretensions,  and  yet  he 
is  confronted  with  the  prospect  of  a  political 
disturbance  likely  to  compromise  his  career.  He 
is  quite  convinced  that  the  alleged  political  offence 
is  a  factitious  one,  yet  it  is  of  such  a  kind  that  he 
is  bound  to  take  notice  of  it,  and  treat  it  seriously. 
He  perceives  that  at  the  bottom  it  is  a  question  of 
religious  differences  with  which  he  has  no  concern, 
and  for  which  he  feels  a  genuine  contempt.  At 
the  same  time  experience  has  shown  him  how 
easily  the  religious  may  run  into  the  political,  and 
he  is  perfectly  aware  that  the  Supreme  Government 
is  particularly  anxious  to  prevent  all  rehgious 
disturbance,  and  avoid  any  occasion  for  insurrection. 
His  sense  of  fair  play,  which  is  characteristic  of 
his  nation,  is  enlisted  on  behalf  of  the  victim,  and 
he  is  determined  that  he  will  not  allow  himself  to 
be  made  the  catspaw  of  Brahminical  intrigue  and 
priestly  vindictiveness,  yet  as  the  case  proceeds  he 


252  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xxii 

finds  himself  being  more  and  more  drawn  into  the 
toils  which  their  astuteness  and  social  influence 
enable  them  to  weave  around  him.  He  struggles, 
but  with  ever-decreasing  strength.  After  all,  his 
career  is  worth  more  to  him  than  anything  else, 
and  he  is  perfectly  convinced  that  if  these  wily 
Brahmins  do  not  get  their  way  in  one  form,  they 
are  sure  to  get  it  in  another.  The  prisoner  is 
probably  innocent  of  any  political  crime,  but  he 
must  have  been  a  fool  to  arouse  the  opposition  of 
the  priests  and  leaders  amongst  his  own  people, 
and  can  hardly  expect  to  escape  in  any  case.  All 
attempts  to  effect  his  release  have  failed,  his  own 
temper  is  getting  ruffled,  and  ominous  murmurs 
amongst  the  excited  and  fanatical  crowd  show  him 
that  a  spark  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  produce  an 
explosion.  One  thing  seems  certain,  and  that  is, 
that  they  will  never  go  away  without  their  victim. 
It  is  equally  certain  that  unless  they  depart,  and 
that  quickly,  there  will  be  a  serious  riot  which  will 
compromise  him  with  the  Government.  Well,  he 
has  done  his  best  to  save  the  man,  and  he  will 
wash  his  hands  of  all  responsibility,  and  throw  the 
burden  on  them,  after  which  they  may  do  what 
they  Hke.  Better  to  err  on  the  side  of  suppressing 
an  alleged  political  conspiracy  than  to  lay  himself 
open  to  the  charge,  which  these  wily  priests  are 
sure  to  bring  against  him,  that  he  has  acquitted  a 
dangerous  conspirator.  With  the  exception  of  the 
power  to  order  instant  execution,  the  case  might 


XXII  A  MORAL  SCEPTIC  253 

happen  any  day  in  India,  even  in  this  twentieth 
century,  and  facsimiles  of  the  character  of  Pilate 
might  not  be  found  so  very  rare.  With  such  a 
parallel  in  our  minds  we  shall  be  better  able  to 
appreciate  the  remarkable  interview  between  Christ 
and  Pilate. 

Aroused  in  the  very  early  hours  of  the  morning 
by  the  crowd  of  priests  and  rulers  who  brought 
Jesus  from  the  palace  of  the  high  priest  to  the 
palace  of  Herod,  in  which  Pilate  was  lodged 
during  his  temporary  residence  in  the  capital,  the 
Governor  was  in  no  very  good-humour  as  he  came 
outside  to  inquire  into  the  case  they  had  brought 
before  him.  His  ill-humour  would  be  further 
increased  by  the  religious  scruples  of  the  priests 
to  enter  the  palace  for  fear  of  defilement.  His 
official  chair  is  brought  out  and  placed  on  the 
raised  terrace  in  front  of  the  judgment  hall. 
Taking  his  seat,  Pilate  asks  for  the  charge  against 
the  prisoner  to  be  stated.  The  priests  evidently 
did  not  anticipate,  nor  did  they  relish,  the  judicial 
inquiry  Pilate  is  preparing  to  make.  They  had 
come  because  they  were  compelled,  and  they 
merely  wanted  the  arm  of  Rome  to  execute  the 
sentence  of  death  which  the  Jewish  tribunal  had 
already  passed.  Pilate's  ill-humour  calls  forth  a 
si  miliar  ill-humour  in  them,  and  they  haughtily 
answer  that  if  the  man  were  not  a  criminal,  they 
would  not  have  brought  him.  Pilate  is  fond  of 
sarcasm,  and  the  opportunity  is  too  good  to  be 


254  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xxii 

lost.  "  Very  well/'  he  answers,  ''  take  him  and 
judge  him  according  to  your  own  law."  If  they 
have  already  decided  the  case,  why  bring  it  to 
him  ?  They  are  compelled  to  confess  that  they 
have  no  power  to  inflict  the  death-penalty,  and 
that  as  this  is  a  capital  offence,  they  have  brought 
the  prisoner  to  Pilate.  The  charge  therefore  is 
formulated  as  one  of  political  agitation,  inciting  to 
refuse  to  pay  tribute  to  the  Emperor,  and  claiming 
to  be  himself  an  anointed  king.  Pilate  thereupon 
turns  his  back  upon  the  priests  and  rulers,  and 
taking  advantage  of  their  unwillingness  to  enter 
the  judgment  hall,  proceeds  there  that  he  may 
conduct  his  inquiry  in  private. 

He  has  had  a  good  look  at  the  prisoner  while 
the  charge  has  been  formulated,  and  he  is  impressed 
with  his  insignificance  and  harmlessness.  This  is 
no  fierce  zealot  or  political  agitator.  If  it  is  true 
that  he  claims  to  be  a  king,  it  is  more  likely  that 
he  is  some  harmless  lunatic,  or  some  descendant  of 
a  former  line  of  kings,  a  rival  rather  of  Herod 
than  of  Cassar.  Anyhow,  now  that  they  are  alone, 
he  will  see  what  the  man  has  to  say  for  himself. 
"  You,"  he  says,  turning  to  the  prisoner  who  has 
been  brought  in,  and  of  whose  name  he  is  as  yet 
ignorant,  "  are  you  the  King  of  the  Jews  ? "  The 
question  is  more  like  a  thought  that  has  slipped 
out,  than  a  direct  interrogation.  As  Pilate  looks 
at  the  man  before  him,  the  groundlessness  of  the 
charge  is  self-evident  to  him.     This  man  king  of 


XXII  A  MORAL  SCEPTIC  255 

the  Jews  ?  The  thing  is  preposterous.  The 
figure  before  him  neither  accords  with  his  con- 
ception of  a  king,  nor  with  his  knowledge  of  the 
turbulent  people  of  whom  he  is  said  to  be  the 
king. 

Christ  hears  the  question,  not  as  that  of  a 
judge  interrogating  a  prisoner,  but  as  that  of  an 
inquirer  asking  a  teacher.  With  the  teacher's 
quick  insight,  He  recognises  the  character  of  the 
man  before  him,  "  a  double-minded  man,  unstable 
in  all  his  ways."  There  are  two  Pilates,  the  better 
and  the  worse.  The  one  is  Pilate  the  man,  the 
other  Pilate  the  Governor.  As  the  man,  Pilate 
has  no  sympathy  with  the  priests  and  rulers  ;  as  the 
Governor,  he  is  more  or  less  afraid  of  them.  As 
the  man,  he  feels  a  kind  of  sympathy  with  their 
victim ;  as  the  Governor,  he  resents  the  disturbance 
of  which  the  prisoner  before  him  is  the  occasion. 
In  the  man,  right  and  justice  may  perchance  secure 
a  hearing  in  the  court  of  conscience ;  in  the 
Governor,  expediency  and  self-interest  are  the 
only  ministers  he  ever  listens  to.  It  is  the 
recognition  of  this  twofold  character  of  Pilate 
which  explains  the  whole  of  this  remarkable 
interview.  With  the  Governor,  Christ  has  nothing 
to  do  and  nothing  to  say  ;  with  the  man  and  the 
moral  struggle  through  which  he  is  passing,  He 
feels  the  deepest  interest,  renders  what  help  is 
possible,  and  even  pities  the  man  whose  failure  in 
this  crisis  of  his  life  resulted  in  His  own  death- 


256  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xxii 

warrant.  While  Christ's  attitude  throughout  is 
more  that  of  the  teacher  than  that  of  the  prisoner 
at  the  bar,  it  must  be  observed  that  His  line  of 
defence  was  the  only  one  which  had  a  chance  of 
success.  There  was  a  conflict  in  the  breast  of 
Pilate  between  the  better  and  the  worse  nature. 
The  worse  won,  and  Christ  was  condemned  ;  but 
whatever  chance  of  an  acquittal  there  may  have 
been,  lay  in  an  appeal  from  Pilate  the  Governor, 
to  Pilate  the  man.  Christ  recognised  this  at  the 
beginning,  and  therefore  His  answer  to  Pilate's 
first  question  is  a  counter-inquiry  as  to  which 
Pilate  is  speaking.  **  Do  you  ask  this,"  He  says, 
*'  on  your  own  initiative,  or  are  you  simply  the 
mouthpiece  of  others  ?  "  All  depends  upon  which 
of  the  two  Pilates  is  going  to  be  master.  Is  he 
going  to  be  himself,  or,  as  the  priests  and  rulers 
expect,  their  tool  ?  He  has  left  them  outside  and 
entered  into  his  own  judgment  hall  where  they 
cannot  come.  So  far  good,  but  is  it  the  same 
Pilate  who  is  to  examine  inside  the  hall,  as  the 
one  who  merely  listens  to  the  calumnies  of  the 
Jews,  and  bends  beneath  the  tumult  without  ?  Is 
it  right  and  justice  who  sit  at  his  side  as  assessors, 
or  fear  and  expediency  ?  Pilate  knows,  as  his 
question  shows,  that  this  man  is  no  political 
conspirator.  If,  as  the  man,  he  asserts  himself, 
he  will  say  distinctly  that  he  acquits  the  prisoner 
of  the  only  charge  which  it  is  his  business  to  take 
notice  of.     If,  however,  as  the  Governor,  he  allows 


XXII  A  MORAL  SCEPTIC  257 

the  outside  influence  to  enter  into  what  should  be 
his  own  inviolable  judgment  hall  and  coerce  him, 
he  is  lost.  The  counter-question,  therefore,  is  an 
appeal  to  the  two  assessors,  right  and  justice,  who 
sit  at  Pilate's  side,  and  a  challenge  to  the  two 
other  assessors,  fear  and  expediency,  who  sit  at  the 
Governor's  side,  and  who  have  intruded  into  a 
court  which  their  presence  defiles.  Is  it  Pilate 
himself  who  speaks,  or  are  the  words  those  of  the 
false  assessors  who  ought  to  be  summarily  ordered 
out  of  court .'' 

The  appeal  has  reached  the  man,  but  it  has 
stirred  the  Roman  in  him.  He  sees  the  reference 
to  outside  influence,  but  why  should  this  Jew 
complain  of  his  own  people  and  rulers  .^^  His 
former  pity  for  an  individual  is  overwhelmed  by 
contempt  for  a  nation  whom  he  despises.  ''  Am  I 
a  Jew.^^"  he  asks  in  deepest  scorn  ;  "it  is  your  own 
nation  and  the  chief  priests  who  have  handed  you 
over  to  me  ;  what  have  you  done  ?  "  Does  the 
man  think  that  he  has  any  interest  in  the  petty 
disputes  and  empty  rivalries  of  Jews}  Let  them 
wrangle  and  quarrel  as  much  as  they  please  for  all 
he  cares,  as  long  as  they  abstain  from  interfering 
with  him  or  his  administration.  As  for  this  man, 
whom  they  are  anxious  to  put  to  death,  what  has 
he  done  to  arouse  their  enmity  ^  It  is  at  least 
suspicious  that  Jews  and  chief  priests  should  hand 
over  to  the  Roman  power  one  whom  they  allege 
to  be  a  political  conspirator.     He  has  not  found 


258  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xxii 

them  so  loyal  as  a  rule,  that  their  conduct  in  this 
instance  can  pass  unchallenged.  If  the  prisoner  is 
appealing  to  Roman  against  Jew,  well  let  him  say 
what  he  has  done  to  offend  the  Jew.  If  it  is  as  a 
partisan  of  Rome,  he  shall  be  safe  from  these 
howling  priests,  riot  and  insurrection  notwith- 
standing. 

Christ  sees  that  Pilate  has  misunderstood  His 
question,  and  that  he  is  regarding  the  case  as  a 
political  one,  though  one  which  may  possibly  turn 
out  in  favour  of  the  prisoner  and  against  His 
accusers.  He  returns  therefore  to  the  question 
which  Pilate  had  first  asked  Him,  and  answers, 
"  My  kingdom  does  not  belong  to  this  world.  If 
My  kingdom  did  belong  to  this  world.  My  subjects 
would  have  resolutely  fought  on  My  behalf  in  order 
that  I  might  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Jews. 
But,  as  a  matter  of  fact.  My  kingdom  is  neither  local 
nor  temporary."  The  question  which  Pilate  had 
asked,  did  not  admit  of  a  categorical  answer.  He 
was  a  king  in  the  truest  sense  ;  He  was  not  a  king 
as  the  priests  meant  it,  and  as  Pilate  might  under- 
stand it.  He  was  no  rival  of  a  Caesar,  His  kingdom 
had  no  territorial  boundaries.  His  legions  were 
no  fighting  army.  It  was  true  that  the  Jews  had 
handed  Him  over  to  the  Roman,  but  if  He  had 
been  the  political  king  they  made  out.  His  subjects 
would  have  prevented  His  falling  into  their  hands. 
Pilate  therefore  could  see  for  himself  that.  King 
though  He  was,  His  kingdom  was  not  political. 


XXII  A  MORAL  SCEPTIC  259 

Pilate  begins  to  understand  what  is  at  the  back 
of  the  action  of  the  chief  priests  in  bringing  the 
charge  against  Him,  and  his  first  impression  is 
deepened.  He  knows  perfectly  well  that  if  the 
prisoner  had  claimed  to  be  king  in  the  political 
sense,  the  Jews  would  never  have  delivered  him 
over  to  the  Roman  power.  He  also  recognises 
that  there  is  weight  in  what  Christ  says,  that  if  His 
kingdom  were  political.  His  subjects  and  partisans 
would  at  least  have  struck  a  blow  in  His  defence. 
The  prisoner,  therefore,  if  he  has  claimed  to  be  a 
king,  must  have  done  so  with  a  special  meaning 
attached  to  the  title,  which  the  chief  priests  have 
purposely  omitted  to  mention.  His  question  is 
accordingly  directed  to  find  this  out.  "  You  are 
a  king,  then  ? ''  he  asks,  seeking  to  elicit  the 
information  he  wants. 

Christ  recognises  that  it  is  the  man  and  not  the 
Governor  who  is  asking  the  question,  and  feels  that 
He  can  speak  freely.  "  As  you  say,"  He  replies, 
'*I  am  a  king.  I  was  born  to  the  position,  and  I 
have  come  into  the  world  to  occupy  it.  This,  in 
fact,  is  the  meaning  of  My  presence  in  the  world, 
namely,  that  I  might  be  a  living  witness  of  the 
Truth.  Every  one  who  is  a  partisan  of  the  Truth 
listens  to  My  voice."  Pilate  has  invited  His  con- 
fidence, and  it  is  freely  given.  There  is  an  empire 
of  Truth,  of  which  Pilate  is  not  ignorant,  and  He 
who  is  a  living  witness  to  the  Truth  is  a  king 
among  men.    His  throne  may  be  a  cross,  His  crown 


26o  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xxii 

that  of  the  martyr,  but  every  one  who  is  loyal  to 
the  Truth,  instinctively  recognises  the  King,  and 
listens  to  His  voice.  The  answer  is  an  appeal  to 
the  true  man  in  Pilate  ;  a  solemn  warning  against 
listening  to  the  clamours  of  the  crowd,  and  the 
false  testimony  so  easily  procurable.  Does  Pilate 
care  more  for  right  than  for  expediency  ;  does  he 
belong  to  the  elect  party  of  Truth,  as  distinct  from 
the  party  of  lies  and  intrigue  which  is  waiting  for 
blood  outside  ?  The  decision  is  momentous  for 
Pilate,  for  his  failure  in  this  crisis  of  his  life  will 
cover  his  name  with  infamy  for  all  time. 

Alas  for  Pilate,  the  examination  has  found  out 
his  weakness.  On  a  question  of  law  he  is  at  home  ; 
on  one  of  equity  he  is  at  sea  without  chart 
or  compass.  "  Truth  !  "  he  exclaims  ;  "  What  is 
truth  ?''  A  sentiment,  an  opinion,  a  question  to 
be  discussed  in  the  schools,  but  out  of  place  in  the 
practical  affairs  of  life.  This  man  who  calls  himself 
a^,king,  and  his  teaching  a  kingdom,  is  clearly  a  mere 
dreamer,  and  the  case  has  no  political  significance. 
There  is  no  need  to  go  into  it  further,  for  he  has 
obtained  all  the  information  he  needs.  The  appeal 
to  the  deeper  instincts  of  Pilate's  nature  has  failed, 
for  the  chords  which  should  have  vibrated  have 
long  since  been  broken.  He  has  no  convictions 
which  can  be  aroused,  no  finer  sentiment  which  can 
be  called  forth.  For  Roman  justice,  however,  he 
has  some  regard — an  inborn  respect  for  its  proper 
administration,  but  for  right  and  truth,  as  eternal 


XXII  A  MORAL  SCEPTIC  261 

verities,  he  has  no  reverence  ;  his  soul  gives  forth 
no  response  to  their  invitation.  He  understands 
them  merely  as  abstract  opinions  which  the 
philosophers  delight  to  talk  about,  but  that  a  man 
should  die  for  them,  never  enters  his  mind.  A 
kingdom  of  Truth  !  Is  that  all  ?  Why  waste 
time  over  such  a  question  ?  The  whole  thing  is  a 
mere  dispute  about  words,  in  which  the  priests 
have  evidently  had  the  worst  of  the  argument,  and 
are  trying  to  revenge  themselves  for  their  defeat. 
Well,  he  is  not  going  to  be  made  a  tool  of,  and  out 
he  strides  to  tell  them  so. 

"  I  find  the  man  innocent."  Thus  he  announces 
the  result  of  his  examination  to  the  impatient  chief 
priests  and  rulers  who  have  been  waiting  outside. 
He  is  met  with  a  storm  of  remonstrance  and  angry 
protest.  Amidst  the  babel  of  voices,  he  catches 
the  words,  *'  sedition,"  "  Judaea,"  "  Galilee,"  and 
gathers  that  they  are  protesting  that  the  prisoner 
is  a  dangerous  sedition- monger,  spreading  his 
obnoxious  doctrines  through  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  land.  The  mention  of  Galilee  opens  out  an 
easy  method  of  getting  rid  of  the  whole  affair. 
Herod,  the  ruler  of  Galilee,  is  at  present  in 
Jerusalem  for  the  Feast,  and  if  the  prisoner  is 
one  of  his  subjects,  then  the  priests  can  take  the 
case  to  him,  and  Pilate  will  be  well  rid  of  it.  To 
Herod,  therefore,  he  sends  them  with  the  prisoner 
under  guard,  and  congratulates  himself  that  he  has 
got  rid  of  an  unpleasant  business. 


262  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xxu 

Like  so  many  others,  however,  who  have  tried 
to  shirk  responsibilities,  Pilate  finds  that  the 
expedient  is  useless,  and  the  case  is  returned  for 
his  own  disposal.  Once  more  the  crowd  of  priests 
with  their  prisoner  confronts  him,  and  the  demand 
for  the  sentence  of  death  is  shouted  at  him.  Pilate 
again  takes  his  seat,  and  hopes  to  dispose  of  the 
matter  by  means  of  a  compromise.  "  You  have 
brought  this  man  to  me,"  he  says,  "  on  a  charge  of 
corrupting  the  loyalty  of  the  people  ;  but  you  see 
that  I  have  examined  him  and  found  that  he  has 
done  nothing  which  deserves  so  severe  a  penalty  as 
death.  Not  only  so,  but  Herod  also  finds  him 
innocent,  and  has  sent  him  back  to  us.  You  must 
see,  therefore,  that  this  is  no  case  for  the  death- 
penalty.  I  shall  therefore  scourge  him  and 
release  him."  This  decision  is  met  with  a  shout 
of  fury,  "Away  with  the  fellow,  and  release 
Barabbas."  If  it  is  a  question  of  releasing  a 
political  prisoner,  they  will  let  him  know  the  man 
they  choose.  Barabbas,  who  has  been  a  long  time 
in  jail  in  connection  with  a  riot  which  had  occurred 
in  the  city,  and  during  which  blood  had  been  shed, 
is  the  man  of  their  choice. 

The  reference  to  the  release  of  a  prisoner 
reminds  Pilate  of  a  custom  connected  with  the 
Passover  Festival,  and  he  eagerly  seizes  it  as 
another  expedient  for  getting  rid  of  his  responsi- 
bility. Motioning  with  his  hand  for  silence,  he 
again  addresses  them.     "  You  have  referred  to  a 


XXII  A  MORAL  SCEPTIC  263 

custom  that  I  should  release  a  prisoner  at  the  Pass- 
over.    Very  well,  shall  I  release  you  the  King  of 
the   Jews  ? "       His   address  this   time   is   to  the 
people,  whom  he  hopes  to  find   more  reasonable 
than  the  priests,  and  he  thinks  that  they  may  catch 
at  the  idea  of  the  release  of  a  king.  The  priests,  how- 
ever, see  the  move,  and  eagerly  suggest  the  name  of 
Barabbas.     As  with  one  voice  they  cry  out,  "  Not 
this  man,  but  Barabbas."    Seeing  the  temper  of  the 
crowd,  and  hoping  that  the  sight  of  the  terrible 
Roman  scourging  will  satisfy  their  lust  for  blood, 
Pilate  gives  order  for  the  infliction  of  the  punish- 
ment to  which  he  has  condemned  the  man  whom  he 
has  found  to  be  innocent.    The  scourging  is  carried 
out,  and  once  more  the  prisoner  is  brought  forth 
wearing  the  mock  crown  of  thorns  and  the  purple 
garment.     Even  PiJate  is  struck  with  the  pitiable 
sight  which  the  prisoner  presents,  and  hoping  to 
arouse    some    pity    in    the    breast  of  the   crowd, 
exclaims,  "Behold  the  man!"     The  crowd,  how- 
ever, fearing  that  they  are  going  to  be  baulked  of 
their  prey,  and  that  Pilate  is  about  to  complete  the 
sentence  by  releasing  him,  urged  on  by  the  priests, 
once  more  take  up  the  cry,  "  Away  with  him  !  To 
the  cross  !     To  the  cross  !    Away  with  this  fellow, 
and  release  Barabbas."     Pilate  persists  in   trying 
to  argue  with  the  maddened  crowd.     "  Why,"  he 
asks,  *'  what  evil  has  he  done  ?''      A  deafening 
roar,  "  To  the  cross  !     To  the  cross  !  "  is  the  only 
response,       "  Take  him   yourselves,   and  crucify 


264  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xxii 

him,"  he  answers  back,  *'  for  I  have  found  him 
innocent."  The  priests  see  that  he  is  yielding,  and 
cry  out, — "  We  have  a  law,  and  according  to  that 
law  he  ought  to  die,  because  he  claimed  to  be  the 
Son  of  God."  If  Pilate  thinks  him  innocent,  they 
know  he  is  guilty  ;  if  he  has  not  broken  the  Roman 
law,  he  has  broken  the  Mosaic  Law,  and  nothing 
but  his  blood  can  atone  for  that. 

Like  many  who  have  no  religious  convictions, 
Pilate  is  superstitious  to  a  degree,  and  the  words, 
*'  son  of  God,"  startle  him  with  a  nervous  fear. 
Who  is  this  strange  man,  calm  and  silent  in  the 
midst  of  all  the  tumult  of  his  foes  ?  Hurriedly  he 
summons  the  guard  to  conduct  the  prisoner  once 
more  into  the  judgment  hall  that  he  may  question 
him  again  in  private.  "  What  is  your  origin  ?  "  he 
asks  in  earnestness  not  unmingled  with  awe.  This 
time  there  is  no  answer.  Pilate  is  no  longer  a  free 
man,  he  has  given  way  to  the  priests  and  rulers 
outside.  He  has  deliberately  disobeyed  his  own 
conscience,  has  set  aside  his  own  judgment  of 
acquittal  at  the  bidding  of  the  prosecution.  The 
judge  has  thrown  in  his  lot  with  the  prosecutors, 
and  has  thereby  forfeited  all  right  to  a  reply.  He 
has  turned  his  back  upon  the  two  assessors,  right 
and  justice,  who  have  recorded  their  verdict  of  not 
guilty,  and  is  listening  to  his  two  ministers,  fear 
and  expediency,  who  are  whispering  their  counsels 
in  his  ear.  As  long  as  these  false  counsellors  are 
allowed  a  place  at  his  side,  his  court  of  justice  is  a 


XXII  A  MORAL  SCEPTIC  265 

mockery,  and  the  prisoner  will  remain  silent. 
Pilate  mistakes  his  silence,  and  attributes  it  to 
either  fear  or  sullenness.  "  Will  you  not  speak 
even  to  me,"  he  asks  ;  "do  you  not  know  that  I  have 
power  to  release  you  and  power  to  crucify  you  ? '  * 
He  can  understand  the  prisoner's  silence  in  the 
presence  of  his  enemies  ;  but  here  in  the  quiet  of 
the  judgment  hall  it  is  out  of  place.  Does  the 
man  not  know  that  a  word  here  may  effect  his 
release,  or  a  stubborn  silence  may  lead  him  to  the 
cross  ?  Pilate  fails  to  see  that  as  long  as  fear  and 
expediency  sit  in  the  private  judgment  hall  of 
conscience,  whispering  their  doubts  and  suggesting 
their  expedients,  the  still  small  voice  must  of 
necessity  remain  unheard. 

"  Power  !  "  answers  Christ ;  "  you  would  have 
none  over  Me  except  it  had  been  conferred  from 
above.  Consequently  he  who  delivered  Me  up  to 
you  has  the  greater  guilt."  There  is  the  pity  of 
a  great  soul  at  the  boast  of  one  dressed  in  brief 
authority,  who  imagines  he  is  anything  more  than 
a  tool  in  the  hand.  Does  Pilate  imagine  for  a 
moment  that  he  is  the  pivot  upon  which  the  whole 
tragedy  is  turning  ?  Power  to  release  ?  He  had 
once,  and  might  have  earned  eternal  fame,  but  it 
has  gone  from  his  nerveless  grasp.  Power  to 
crucify  ?  Nay,  he  is  the  slave  of  the  chief  priests 
already,  and  all  that  he  will  be  allowed  to  do  is 
to  act  as  executioner  of  the  sentence  they  have 
pronounced.     Christ  foresees  the  issue,  and  knows 


266  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xxii 

that  the  matter  has  already  passed  out  of  Pilate's 
hands.  He  will  undoubtedly  yield  to  the  outside 
pressure,  he  will  stifle  the  voice  of  his  own 
conscience,  and  give  way  to  the  counsels  of  fear 
and  expediency.  His  guilt  will  remain,  and  the 
blot  of  disgrace  will  abide  for  ever  on  his  memory, 
but  he  is  only  a  tool  after  all.  The  authority  which 
he  exercises  has  been  entrusted  into  his  hands 
from  above  ;  it  is  the  use  he  makes  of  it  for  which 
alone  he  is  responsible.  The  greater  guilt  attaches 
to  that  one.  High  Priest  of  the  chosen  people  of 
God,  who  denies  the  title  of  the  Lord's  Anointed 
to  the  One  whom  the  Father  has  sent,  and  hands 
over  the  Messiah  of  Israel  to  the  power  of  Rome. 
Pilate  holds  a  hurried  consultation  with  his  two 
favourites,  fear  and  expediency.  Expediency  can 
suggest  nothing  new,  fear  has  suddenly  grown 
rehgious  at  the  mention  of  a  son  of  God,  and 
thinks  the  man  should,  if  possible,  be  released. 
Going  outside,  Pilate  once  again  announces  his 
intention  of  releasing  the  prisoner.  The  priests 
and  rulers,  however,  recognise  the  hesitation  in 
his  manner,  and  they  know  the  man.  Growing 
bolder  as  Pilate  grows  weaker,  they  play  upon  his 
fears.  "  If  you  release  this  man,  you  are  no  friend 
of  the  Emperor's  ;  every  one  who  sets  himself  up 
as  a  king  declares  himself  a  rebel  against  the 
Emperor."  This  last  shaft  went  home,  and  fear 
and  expediency  both  alike  urged  that  the  man 
must  be  sacrificed,  if  place  and  position  were  to  be 


XXII  A  MORAL  SCEPTIC  267 

retained.  The  friendship  of  the  Emperor  must 
be  preserved  even  though  the  hfe  of  an  innocent 
man  be  the  cost.  Pilate  orders  the  guard  to  bring 
forth  the  prisoner,  and  once  more  takes  his  seat 
on  the  Judge's  chair.  Before  pronouncing  the 
sentence  which  he  perceives  to  be  inevitable,  he 
indulges  once  again  in  his  favourite  habit  of 
sarcasm.  Pointing  to  the  prisoner  he  exclaims, 
"  See,  here  is  your  king."  A  roar  of  voices,  crying 
**  Away  with  him,  away  with  him,  crucify  him,"  is 
the  only  response  he  elicits  from  the  maddened 
crowd.  "  Am  I  to  crucify  your  king  ?''  he  asks 
in  mock  surprise.  The  priests  are  more  than  a 
match  for  him,  and  reply  with  meaning,  "  We 
have  no  king  but  the  Emperor." 

Pilate  catches  the  meaning  of  their  reply,  and 
sees  that  the  situation  is  becoming  serious.  It  will 
be  so  easy  for  these  wily  priests  to  distort  and 
misrepresent  the  scene.  They  can  take  his  literal 
words,  carefully  leaving  out  the  ironical  tones  of 
his  voice,  and  represent  him  as  favouring  a  usurper. 
He  is  well  aware  of  the  suspicious  nature  of  the 
Emperor,  and  realises  that  the  scene  must  be  cut 
short,  ere  worse  happens.  Calling  for  a  bowl  of 
water,  he  washes  his  hands  in  the  sight  of  the 
crowd,  and  declares  he  is  not  responsible  for  the 
blood  of  an  innocent  man,  the  priests  and  people 
must  answer  for  it.  "  His  blood  be  upon  us,  and 
upon  our  children,"  they  shout  in  reply,  rejoicing 
that  they  have  got  their  way  at  last. 


268  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xxii 

The  trial  is  over  and  nothing  remains  but  the 
formal  sentencing  of  the  prisoner.  The  hands 
which  Pilate  has  just  washed  in  innocency,  must 
be  stained  with  a  dye  which  no  washing  can  efface. 
He  writes  not  the  condemnation  of  the  prisoner, 
but  his  own,  and  what  he  has  written  he  has 
written.  He  has  been  brought  face  to  face  with 
incarnate  truth,  and  has  asked  in  hollow  mockery, 
"  What  is  truth  ? ' '  He  is  convinced  that  the  prisoner 
is  innocent,  and  yet,  to  save  himself,  he  condemns 
him  to  death.  Not  for  the  crucifixion  of  the 
Christ  of  God  must  he  be  held  responsible,  for  he 
knew  not  what  he  did.  But  for  being  traitor  to 
his  own  conscience,  for  sacrificing  right  and  justice 
to  cowardly  fear  and  shifting  expediency,  for 
bowing  to  the  brutal  passions  of  the  mob,  and 
allowing  himself  to  be  made  the  tool  of  un- 
scrupulous priests,  Pilate  must  stand  condemned 
for  all  time.  "  So  Pilate  gave  judgment,  yielding 
to  their  demand.  The  man  who  was  lying  in 
prison  charged  with  riot  and  murder,  and  for 
whom  they  clamoured,  he  set  free,  but  Jesus  he 
gave  up  to  be  dealt  with  as  they  desired." 


XXIII 

FAITH    VERSUS  SIGHT 
John  XX.  24-29. 

That  sense  perception  is  at  the  basis  of  all  our 
knowledge  is  one  of  those  axioms  with  which  we 
are  all  familiar,  even  though  we  have  never  read 
a  word  of  philosophy.  In  the  common  language  of 
daily  life  we  are  accustomed  to  assertions  of  assured 
knowledge,  by  a  reference  to  the  experience  of  one 
or  other  of  our  five  senses.  Two  of  them,  those 
of  sight  and  touch,  are  indeed  the  criteria  which 
we  apply  to  knowledge  of  all  kinds.  "It  is 
evident,"  or,  "  It  is  palpable,"  are  the  two  chief 
phrases,  which,  through  many  variations,  are  the 
signs  we  use  for  certitude.  If  we  wish  to  describe 
the  illusory  or  doubtful,  we  invariably  deny  in  some 
form  or  another  that  they  can  be  seen  or  felt. 
They  are  imperceptible  or  intangible,  unseen  by 
the  eye  or  unfelt  by  the  hand,  and  as  such  viewed 
with  suspicion  or  rejected  with  incredulity.  Tenny- 
son has  expressed  a  common  conviction  when  he 
says,    "Knowledge   is    of   things    we   see,"    and 

269 


270  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xxiii 

contrasts  it  with  faith.  To  many  the  difference 
between  faith  and  knowledge  is  the  difference 
between  the  unknown  and  the  known,  and  much 
of  the  agnosticism  of  the  present  day  is  largely  due 
to  this  conception  that  the  senses  are  not  a  means, 
but  the  only  means  of  obtaining  assured  knowledge. 
To  certain  types  of  mind,  however,  the  limitations 
of  sense  perception  are  as  remarkable  as  the  range 
of  their  operations,  and  the  conception  of  limiting 
knowledge  to  the  impressions  of  sense,  and  the 
mind's  working  on  those  impressions,  is  one  which 
presents  insuperable  difficulties.  They  are  quite 
conscious  of  the  inestimable  debt  the  mind  owes 
to  the  senses,  but  they  refuse  to  believe  that  the 
mind  cannot  pass  into  regions  which  are  for  ever 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  senses,  or  that  it  cannot 
arrive  at  truth  except  as  the  object  is  presented  to 
it  by  means  of  the  senses.  They  are  conscious 
that  there  is  a  region  which  is  essentially  meta- 
physical, in  which  the  mind  moves  not  as  it  is 
guided  or  impelled  by  the  senses,  but  by  the  laws 
of  its  own  being,  and  that  the  goal  at  which  it 
arrives  by  strict  obedience  to  those  laws  is  know- 
ledge in  the  highest  and  best  sense,  even  though 
inaccessible  to  sense  perception.  In  some  cases  the 
goal  arrived  at  can  be  tested  by  the  senses,  but 
whether  tested  or  untested,  the  reality  is  the  same. 
The  discovery  of  the  planet  Neptune  by  the  mind 
before  it  was  brought  within  the  range  of  telescopic 
vision,  affords  an  illustration  of  what  is  here  meant. 


XXIII  FAITH  VERSUS  SIGHT  271 

It  was  the  operation  of  the  mind,  working  according 
to  its  own  laws,  which  established  the  existence  of 
Neptune,  before  the  telescope  discovered  it.  The 
mind,  in  fact,  in  this  case  aided  the  senses,  instead 
of  being  aided  by  them.  It  is  true  that  the  mind 
was  here  only  working  on  the  data  presented  to  it 
by  the  senses,  but  its  working  was  based  upon  the 
assumption  that  a  previous  intelligence  had  been 
at  work  in  the  constitution  of  the  universe,  and 
that  the  working  of  that  Mind  was  in  harmony 
with  the  laws  of  our  own  minds.  This,  in  fact,  is 
scientific  faith  as  distinct  from  scientific  knowledge. 
It  has  been  arrived  at  by  means  of  sense  perception, 
but  it  is  none  the  less  faith,  as  distinct  from 
knowledge.  Our  great  advance  in  knowledge  is 
due  to  our  walking  by  faith  as  well  as  by  sight. 
Experience  has  shown  us  that  what  is,  conforms  to 
reason,  and  we  therefore  conclude  that  whatever 
conforms  to  reason  exists,  whether  it  has  come 
within  the  range  of  sense  perception  or  not.  If  the 
senses  have  not  yet  discovered  it,  we  search  for  it 
with  the  belief  that  sooner  or  later  we  shall  find  it. 
The  atomic  theory  prophesies  the  existence  of 
elements  which  have  never  come  within  the  range 
of  sense  perception,  and  recent  discoveries  have 
simply  filled  up  the  places  which  were  vacant,  and 
revealed  what  faith  had  already  perceived.  Science 
has  shown  us  that  what  is,  ought  to  be,  and  it 
cannot  escape  creating  the  suspicion  that  what  ought 
to  be,  actually  is,  whether  we  perceive  it  or  not. 


272  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xxm 

The  distinction  between  faith  and  knowledge, 
therefore,  is  imperfectly  described  as  the  difference 
between  the  unknown  and  the  known  ;  it  is  more 
accurately  described  as  the  difference  between 
anticipated  and  realised  knowledge.  Knowledge 
is  not  only  of  things  we  see,  but  of  things  we 
foresee.  The  mind  may  anticipate  the  senses  and 
believe  even  where  the  senses  cannot  see.  If  this 
is  true  even  in  the  sphere  of  the  physical,  the 
presumption  is  that  it  is  equally  true  in  the  spheres 
which  are  metaphysical. 

Morality  and  religion  cannot  be  treated  in  the 
same  way  as  the  physical  sciences.  They  have 
their  own  data  which  are  not  material  but  spiritual. 
If  they  are  realities,  however,  they  must  be  intelli- 
gible ;  they  must  follow  similar  laws  to  those  which 
reign  in  the  material  realm,  or  at  any  rate  they 
must  follow  law,  and  not  be  the  result  of  chance. 
In  the  sphere  of  morals  the  good  must  be  the 
reasonable  ;  actions  must  be  justifiable.  In  the 
sphere  of  religion,  beliefs  must  be  reasonable  ;  the 
data  upon  which  they  are  founded  must  be  consis- 
tent with  the  working  of  the  Divine  Mind,  as  that 
is  already  known  to  us  in  other  spheres.  In  these 
two  spheres  we  walk  by  faith  and  not  by  sight, 
but  the  faith  must  be  justified  by  experience  or  by 
reason.  Here,  however,  the  same  results  as  we 
find  in  the  physical  meet  us,  for  that  which  verily 
is,  turns  out  to  be  that  which  ought  to  be,  and 
religious    faith,  like    scientific    faith,  cannot   help 


XXIII  FAITH  VERSUS  SIGHT  273 

anticipating  that  what  ought  to  be,  either  is  or 
will  be.  There  are  departments  of  religious  belief 
which  are  capable  of  being  tested  by  experience, 
but  there  are  others  in  which  no  such  test  is 
possible.  Some  minds  will  hesitate  to  accept  as 
true  what  cannot  be  verified  by  experience,  and 
will  therefore  suspend  their  judgment,  neither 
believing  nor  denying.  There  are  others,  how- 
ever, who  have  no  such  hesitation.  To  them  it  is 
sufficient  that  reason  anticipates ;  they  wait  for 
the  realisation  of  experience  not  to  confirm,  but 
to  enjoy  that  of  which  they  are  already  assured. 
The  belief  in  immortality  may  be  cited  as  an 
illustration  of  this  difference.  To  some  the  belief 
is  an  anticipation  of  the  mind,  founded  upon  in- 
dications which  are  perceived,  and  arrived  at  by  a 
process  of  reasoning,  but  lacking  that  certitude 
which  experience  can  alone  give  them.  To  others 
the  belief  is  also  an  anticipation  of  the  mind,  but 
the  data  upon  which  it  is  founded  and  the  process 
of  reasoning  by  which  it  is  reached  are  convincing 
in  themselves.  They  are  so  convinced,  that  is, 
that  there  ought  to  be  a  life  beyond  the  veil,  that 
they  have  no  doubt  there  is  one.  To  them  the 
necessity  which  thought  perceives,  is  a  greater 
guarantee  of  reality  than  the  necessity  involved  in 
an  actual  experience.  They  would  sooner  trust  to 
an  examination  of  the  thought  of  mankind  on  this 
question,  than  they  would  to  the  testimony  of 
the    actual  experience    of  any    one    man  or  any 

T 


274  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xxiii 

number  of  men.  Of  such  minds  it  may  be  said 
that  while  their  behef  in  immortality  is  supported 
by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  their  acceptance  of 
the  fact  of  that  event  is  due,  not  merely  or  chiefly 
to  the  historical  argument, 'but  to  their  prior  belief 
in  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  They  may  not 
commit  themselves  to  any  theory  which  seeks  to 
explain  the  resurrection,  but  they  are  assured  that 
Calvary  was  not  and  could  not  be  the  end  of  that 
unique  life  of  the  Man  of  Sorrows.  To  them 
the  life  of  Christ  is  unintelligible  apart  from  the 
resurrection.  The  one  is  the  prelude  to  the  other, 
and  if  the  prelude  is  actual  fact,  the  sequel  cannot 
be  mere  fancy.  The  resurrection  is  in  a  certain 
degree  a  confirmation  of  the  behef  in  immortality, 
but  that  which  strengthens  the  belief  is  not  the 
resurrection,  but  the  life  of  Jesus.  That  life  has 
emphasised  as  no  other  life  has  ever  done,  the  idea 
of  the  persistence  of  the  individuality  of  man,  its 
independence  of  material  conditions,  its  essentially 
spiritual  environment.  The  grave  was^  an  impos- 
sible goal  to  such  a  life.  The  pangs  of  death  were 
birth-throes  for  such  a  life,  and  the  grave  could 
not  possibly  hold  Him  (see  Acts  ii.  24). 

While  this  is  true  of  some  types  of  mind,  it 
must  be  confessed  that  to  others  the  testimony  of 
the  senses  is  a  more  sure  witness.  They  are  slow 
to  believe  all  that  is  prophesied.  They  believe 
that  some  things  are  too  good  to  be  true.  They 
are  the  Thomases  of  history,  loyal  to  the  core, 


XXIII  FAITH  VERSUS  SIGHT  275 

ready  to  die  with  their  Master,  but  accepting 
slowly  and  cautiously  the  news  which  is  too  optimistic 
for  their  belief.  Such  men  and  women  are  wrongly 
classified  as  doubters  or  sceptics,  and  blamed  for 
their  lack  of  faith.  They  are  under  the  tyranny 
of  the  senses,  and  their  minds  cannot  move  with 
confidence  expect  by  means  of  the  aids  which  the 
senses  yield.  They  are  more  to  be  pitied  than 
blamed,  for  they  are  themselves  the  chief  sufferers. 
The  interview  between  Thomas  and  the  risen 
Christ  is  full  of  significance  as  marking  Christ's 
attitude  to  a  type  of  mind  which  was  the  exact 
opposite  of  His  own. 

Thomas  is  only  mentioned  on  one  previous 
occasion,  but  that  throws  considerable  light  upon 
his  character  and  temperament.  When  the  news 
was  brought  to  Jesus  that  His  friend  Lazarus  was 
ill,  and  Christ  proposed  to  return  to  Judasa,  the 
disciples  reminded  Him  that  the  Jews  had  but 
lately  sought  His  life  in  those  parts,  and  expressed 
surprise  that  He  should  again  venture  into  the 
midst  of  His  foes.  Thomas  foreboded  the  worst, 
but  his  loyalty  never  wavered.  "  Let  us  also  go, 
that  we  may  die  with  Him,"  he  suggested  to  the 
other  disciples.  There  was  evidently  a  good  deal 
of  the  pessimist  in  the  man's  nature,  but  there  was 
a  nobility  and  courage  which  triumphed  over  the 
fear  that  struck  a  chill  to  his  heart.  If  his  imagina- 
tion anticipated  the  worst,  it  did  not  daunt  him 
with  a  craven  fear.     His  was  the  courage  that  was 


276  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xxiii 

not  oblivious  of  danger,  but  calmly  looked  it  in  the 
face.  The  weakness  of  the  flesh  doubtless  caused 
him  to  take  part  in  the  sudden  panic  which  took 
hold  of  all  the  disciples  when  their  Master  was 
arrested,  but  Thomas  had  the  wilhng  spirit  of  the 
martyr  who  can  face  the  contemplation  of  death, 
and  march  with  steady  step  to  meet  his  fate.  His 
mind  must  have  chiefly  occupied  itself  after  the 
crucifixion  in  brooding  over  his  sudden  flight, 
and  blaming  himself  for  following  the  others  in 
their  panic  of  fear.  It  was  the  death  of  Christ 
upon  which  he  meditated,  and  the  lost  opportunity 
of  sharing  it  with  the  Master  he  loved.  The  news, 
therefore,  of  the  resurrection  took  him  by  surprise, 
and  his  mind  refused  to  forsake  its  accustomed 
journey  to  the  cross  of  his  lost  opportunity.  There 
all  his  thoughts  centred,  because  it  was  there  he 
felt  he  too  ought  to  have  died.  Nothing  would 
bring  back  that  lost  chance,  and  remorse  with 
sharp  teeth  bit  into  his  soul.  It  is  extremely 
probable  that  while  the  others  went  to  visit  the 
tomb,  Thomas  went  to  Calvary  to  go  over  again 
those  last  scenes,  and  scourge  his  soul  afresh  with 
vain  regrets.  This  would  account  for  his  absence 
from  the  first  meeting  of  Christ  with  His  disciples 
in  the  upper  room,  on  that  memorable  first  day  of 
the  week.  Fresh  from  the  scene  of  the  crucifixion 
where  he  has  seen  the  whole  tragedy  of  the  nailing 
to  the  cross  and  the  spear-thrust  into  the  side  re- 
enacted,  his  mournful  thoughts  are  suddenly  broken 


XXIII  FAITH  VERSUS  SIGHT  277 

in  upon  by  the  other  disciples  with  the  announce- 
ment that  they  have  seen  the  Master,  and  their 
hearts  are  overflowing  with  joy.  The  two  states 
of  mind  are  in  marked  contrast  to  one  another, 
and  hence  opposition  is  to  be  expected.  Thomas 
is  in  the  depths  of  despair  and  humiliation,  while 
they  are  on  the  mount  of  exultation.  Over  and 
over  again  he  has  said  to  himself,  *'He  is  dead. 
He  is  dead  ;  would  God  I  had  but  died  with 
Him."  The  disciples  meet  him  with  the  words, 
"  He  is  alive,  and  we  have  seen  Him."  To 
Thomas,  in  the  frame  of  mind  in  which  he  is,  it  is 
simply  incredible.  ''  Impossible  !  "  he  says.  The 
only  conception  of  his  Master  in  harmony  with  his 
thoughts  is  as  he  saw  Him  in  the  agony  of  death. 
What  they  have  seen  must  be  a  delusion,  a  fancy, 
the  construction  of  their  own  imaginations,  but  not 
the  crucified  Lord.  "I,"  he  answers,  "cannot  and 
will  not  believe  it.  I  must  have  a  greater  assurance 
than  that  which  even  sight  affords.  I  must  touch 
the  print  of  the  nails  with  my  own  finger,  I  must 
thrust  my  hand  into  the  gaping  wound  which  the 
spear-thrust  has  made,  ere  I  can  believe  that  He 
whom  I  forsook  in  the  hour  when  He  needed  me 
most,  is  not  dead  but  alive."  There  is  no  coarse 
materialism  here  ;  it  is  the  agony  of  despair  for  a 
crime  for  which  he  can  never  forgive  himself.  His 
remorse  makes  it  impossible  for  him  to  believe  the 
news,  which  is  too  good  to  be  true.  It  is  no  trick 
of  the  imagination  to  which  the  mind  of  Thomas 

T  2 


278  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xxiii 

will  submit.  The  wish  can  never  be  the  father  of 
the  thought  to  the  man  who  is  in  the  despair  which 
remorse  produces.  The  great  outstanding  fact 
which  haunts  him  night  and  day  is  the  dead  body 
of  the  Master  whom  he  deserted.  The  print  of 
the  nails  and  the  spear-thrust  have  burnt  themselves 
into  his  soul.  The  blow  of  the  hammer  is  still 
ringing  in  his  ears.  The  pierced  side  with  its  open 
wound  is  ever  before  his  eyes.  That  is  the  awful 
tragedy  from  which  he  cannot  escape,  and  by  which 
the  fancies  of  the  other  disciples  must  be  tested. 
No  ghost  or  hallucination  can  alter  the  terrible 
reality.  Angel,  or  devil,  or  shade,  he  will  demand 
an  answer  which  shall  satisfy  him.  If  they  are 
masquerading  in  some  ghostly  appearance  of  his 
Master,  he  will  demand  the  one  proof  which  can 
alone  satisfy  him, — the  print  of  the  nails  and  the 
mark  of  the  spear-thrust.  The  man's  courage  is 
equal  to  the  task,  for  it  is  the  courage  of  despair, 
and  he  is  careful  to  be  present  at  the  time  and 
place  of  the  last  week's  appearance. 

The  disciples  are  waiting  in  joyful  anticipation 
of  a  renewal  of  the  visit,  but  Thomas  is  still 
dwelling  on  his  lost  opportunity.  He  is  in  the 
upper  room  with  the  others,  but  his  mind  is  still  at 
Calvary,  and  the  cross  and  the  dead  Master  are 
before  his  eyes.  Suddenly  the  words,  "  Peace  to 
you,"  break  the  silence  of  the  room,  and  Thomas 
raising  his  head  sees  the  living  Master  in  their 
midst.    There  is  the  old  kindly  smile  on  the  face  as 


XXIII  FAITH  VERSUS  SIGHT  279 

He  calls  to  the  one  disciple  whose  heart  is  being 
eaten  away  with  remorse,  and  invites  him  to  apply 
the  test  by  which  alone  he  could  believe  the  good 
news  which  the  others  had  told  him.  "  Bring," 
says  Christ,  "that  finger  and  that  hand  of  yours 
upon  whose  testimony  you  lay  so  much  stress,  so 
that  feeling  may  assure  sight ;  and  be  no  longer 
an  unbeliever  but  become  a  believer."  There  is  a 
kindly  chiding  of  the  man  for  allowing  room  to 
the  thought  that  the  news  was  too  good  to  be  true. 
There  is  the  genial  sarcasm  at  the  importance 
Thomas  has  attached  to  the  evidence  of  that  finger 
and  hand  of  his. 

Thomas  has  no  need  to  apply  the  tests  he  has 
made  so  much  of.  This  is  no  masquerade,  or 
shade,  or  ghost ;  it  is  the  Master  Himself.  The 
recognition  is  instantaneous  and  beyond  the  possi- 
bility of  a  doubt.  It  is  not  merely  that  the  body 
is  the  same  ;  it  is  that  the  tones  of  the  voice  and 
the  character  are  the  same.  No  one  but  his 
Master  could  have  spoken  like  that,  no  one  but 
his  Lord  could  have  understood  him  like  that.  It 
is  this  which  calls  forth  his  enthusiastic  response, 
''  My  Master,  and  my  God."  If  he  has  been  the 
last  of  the  disciples  to  admit  the  fact  of  the 
resurrection,  he  is  the  first  to  recognise  its  signifi- 
cance. The  conviction  is  borne  in  upon  his  mind 
that  there  is  more  here  than  mere  humanity,  there 
is  divinity.  This  is  no  theological  speculation,  it 
is  a  spontaneous  recognition  that  in  the  Master 


28o  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xxm 

whom  he  has  known  and  loved,  there  is  a  relation- 
ship to  the  Father,  unique  and  essentially  different 
from  that  of  other  men. 

In  Christ's  answer  there  is  a  recognition  of  the 
limitations  of  Thomas's  nature,  for  while  congratu- 
lating the  more  fortunate,  he  does  not  condemn 
the  others.  Thomas  is  to  be  pitied  rather  than 
blamed  for  the  tyranny  of  the  senses  under  which 
he  lives.  It  is  a  handicap  which  deprives  him  of 
blessings  which  others  receive.  In  the  present 
instance  an  unusual  experience  has  been  vouchsafed 
him,  but  he  has  to  learn  that  to  walk  by  faith  is  a 
happier  experience  than  to  walk  by  sight.  Happy 
indeed  are  those  whose  faith  is  independent  of  the 
confirmation  of  sense  perception,  whose  faith  is  not 
a  mere  hope  but  a  glad  and  joyful  anticipation. 
"  Because  you  have  seen  Me,  you  have  believed  ; 
blessed  are  they  who  have  not  seen,  and  yet  believe." 
This  is  no  arbitrary  pronouncement ;  it  is  a 
declaration  of  actual  fact,  which  the  experience  of 
life  fully  bears  out.  Lack  of  faith  is  a  misfortune, 
not  a  fault ;  an  appeal  for  compassion,  not  a  cause 
for  blame.  Thrice  happy  are  they  who  can  believe 
even  though  they  cannot  see  ;  whose  minds  can 
pass  where  sense  fails,  and  can  arrive  at  convictions 
which  strengthen  and  inspire  their  souls.  In  the 
spiritual  and  moral  realms  nothing  can  really  be 
too  good  to  be  true.  That  which  establishes  its 
goodness,  establishes  also  its  truth.  There  are 
things  which  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  and 


XXIII  FAITH  VERSUS  SIGHT  281 

which  it  hath  not  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to 
conceive,  which  God  hath  prepared  for  those  who 
have  entered  into  the  relationship  of  love  ;  but 
these  are  the  things  which  being  too  good  to  be 
conceived  by  the  human  mind,  have  been  conceived 
by  the  Divine  Mind.  The  good  must  for  ever 
surpass  the  conception  of  the  human  mind,  but  the 
reality  will  always  transcend  the  highest  good  the 
human  mind  can  anticipate.  We  may  fear  that 
immortality  is  too  good  to  be  true,  but  we  cannot 
believe  that  what  awaits  us  beyond  the  veil  is  less 
than  the  highest  we  have  been  able  to  conceive. 
It  will  doubtless  surpass,  but  it  cannot  fall  short  of 
our  highest  and  best  conception. 

We  thank  Thee,  Lord,  that  Thou  hast  kept 

The  best  in  store  : 
We  have  enough,  yet  not  too  much 

To  long  for  more, — 
A  yearning  for  a  deeper  peace 

Not  known  before. 

Amidst  all  the  discussion  to  which  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ  has  given  rise,  there  is  one  objection 
that  never  has,  and  never  can  be  raised,  namely, 
that  it  ought  not  to  be  true.  Almost  all  the 
attempts  to  explain  the  origin  of  the  belief  in  the 
resurrection,  make  use  of  the  hopes  and  expecta- 
tions, not  of  the  disciples,  for  which  there  is  next 
to  no  evidence,  but  of  humanity  as  it  contemplates 
the  life  of  Christ.  The  writers  seem  to  feel  that 
they  have  to  show  that  the   belief  arose   naturally 


282  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST  xxiii 

from  the  conviction  that  the  grave  is  not  and 
cannot  be  the  goal  of  such  a  life.  The  theories 
therefore  derive  whatever  strength  they  possess 
from  the  plausibility  of  their  explanations  of  this 
fact.  The  fact  itself,  however,  requires  explaining. 
The  why,  and  not  the  how,  is  the  important  factor. 
Jesus  Christ  has  brought  life  and  immortality  to 
light  through  His  gospel.  Even  the  rejection  of 
the  historical  fact  only  leads  the  mind  to  predicate 
an  immortality  of  some  kind  or  other,  vague  and 
shadowy  though  it  is.  The  fact  is,  the  grave 
cannot  hold  Him.  The  stone  which  our  lack  of 
faith  places  upon  the  grave  is  sooner  or  later  rolled 
away,  and  we  look  into  an  empty  tomb.  The 
seal  which  our  rationalistic  criticism  places  upon 
the  death  and  burial  is  in  vain,  for  the  disciples 
proclaim  that  He  is  risen.  The  news  is  not  too 
good  to  be  true  ;  the  opposite  is  the  fact,  for  the 
Gospel  of  Life,  and  that  more  abundant,  which 
Christ  has  given  to  the  world,  is  too  good  to  be 
false.  There  are  still  some  who  doubt,  to  whom 
the  happiness  of  faith  is  withheld,  who  do  not 
believe  because  they  have  not  seen.  Thrice  happy 
are  they  who  though  they  have  not  seen  have  yet 
believed,  and  joyfully  proclaim  their  faith  "  in  the 
resurrection  and  the  life  everlasting." 


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ST.  JAMES'S  GAZETTE.—"  While  the  sacred  text  has  in  no  way  been  tampered 
with,  the  books  are  presented  in  modern  literary  form,  and  are  furnished  with  an  intro- 
duction and  notes  by  Professor  Richard  G.  Moulton.     The  notes  are  scholarly,  and  of 
real  help  to  the  student." 

BIBLE  LESSONS.     By  Rev.  E.  A.  Abbott,  D.D.    Crown  8vo.    4s.  6d. 
SIDE-LIGHTS  UPON  BIBLE  HISTORY.    By  Mrs.  Sydney  Buxton. 

Illustrated.      Crown  8vo.      5s. 
STORIES  FROM  THE  BIBLE,    First  Series.    By  Rev.  A.  J.  Church. 

Illustrated.      Crown  8vo.      3s.  6d. 
BIBLE    READINGS    SELECTED    FROM    THE    PENTATEUCH 

AND    THE    BOOK   OF    JOSHUA.      By  Rev.  J.    A.   Cross. 

2nd  Edition.     Globe  8vo.      2s.  6d. 


4  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.'S 

Biblical  History — continued, 

CHILDREN'S     TREASURY     OF     BIBLE      STORIES.     By    Mrs. 

H.  Gaskoin.    Pott  8vo.     IS.  each.      Part  I.  Old  Testament ;   II. 

New  Testament ;  III.  Three  Apostles. 
THE  NATIONS  AROUND  ISRAEL.    By  A.  Keary.    Cr.  8vo.    3s.  6d. 
VILLAGE  SERMONS.    By  Rev.  F.  J.  A.  Hort,  D.D.    8vo.    6s. 

This  Volume  contains  a  Series  of  Sermons  dealing  in  a  popular 

way  with  the  successive  Books  of  which  the  Bible  is  made  up. 

They  form  an  admirable  introduction  to  the  subject. 
SERMONS   ON   THE   BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.      (Selected  from 

Village  Sermons.)     Crown  8vo.      3s.  6d. 
POLITICS  AND  RELIGION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL.     An  Intro- 
duction to  the  Study  of  the  Old  Testament.      By  the  Rev.  J.  C. 

Todd,  M.A.  Cantab.,  Canon  of  St.  Saviour's  Cathedral,  Natal. 

Crown  8vo.  6s. 
The  author  writes  from  the  standpoint  of  a  frank  acceptance  of  the 
results  of  Biblical  criticism,  and  the  necessity  of  restating  the  history  in  the 
light  of  modern  research.  His  chief  aim  is  to  assist  those  who  have  been 
placed  in  a  condition  of  uncertainty  by  the  results  of  criticism,  and  to 
bring  back  the  attention  of  intelligent  men  and  women  to  the  Scriptures 
as  a  source  of  .spiritual  instruction.  Canon  Todd  in  his  work  has  assumed 
the  main  results  of  criticism,  and  while,  for  the  most  part,  he  has  avoided 
the  discussion  of  disputed  points,  he  has  in  some  details  advanced  views 
which  have  not  hitherto  been  suggested. 
HISTORY,  PROPHECY,  AND  THE  MONUMENTS  ;  or,  ISRAEL 

AND  THE  NATIONS.      By  Prof.  J.  F.   M'Curdy.     3  Vols. 

8vo.      Vol.   I.    To  the  Downfall  of  Samaria.      Vol.   II.    To   the 

Fall  of  Nineveh.     Vol.  HI.   To  the  end  of  Exile  (completing  the 

work).      14s.  net  each. 
TIMES.— '■'■  K  learned   treatise   on   the  ancient  history  of  the  Semitic  peoples  as 
interpreted  by  the  new  light  obtained  from  the  modern  study  of  their  monuments." 

EXPOSITORY  TIMES.—''  The  work  is  very  able  and  very  welcome.  ...   It  will 
take  the  place  of  all  existing  histories  of  these  nations." 

A  CLASS-BOOK  OF  OLD  TESTAMENT  HISTORY.  By  Rev. 
Canon  Maclear.      With  Four  Maps.      Pott  8vo.      4s.  6d. 

A  CLASS-BOOK  OF  NEW  TESTAMENT  HISTORY.  Includ- 
ing the  connection  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  By  the  same. 
Pott  8vo.      5s.  6d. 

A  SHILLING  BOOK  OF  OLD  TESTAMENT  HISTORY.  By 
the  same.      Pott  8vo.      is. 

A  SHILLING  BOOK  OF  NEW  TESTAMENT  HISTORY.  By 
the  same.      Pott  8vo.      is. 

THE  BIBLE  FOR  HOME  READING.  Edited,  with  Comments  and 
Reflections  for  the  use  of  Jewish  Parents  and  Children,  by  C.  G. 
MoNTEFiORE.  Part  I.  To  the  Second  Visit  of  Nehemiah  to 
Jerusalem.  2nd  Edition.  Extra  Crown  8vo.  4s.  6d.  net. 
Part  II.  Containing  Selections  from  the  Wisdom  Literature,  the 
Prophets,  and  the  Psalter,  together  with  extracts  from  the 
Apocrypha.      Extra  Crown  8vo.      5s.  6d.  net. 


THEOLOGICAL  CATALOGUE  5 

Biblical  History — continued. 

VOCAL  AND  LITERARY  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

By  S.  S.  Curry,  Ph.D.     Introduction  by  Francis  G.  Peabody, 

D.D.      Crown  8vo.      6s.  6d.  net. 

SCOTSMAN.—^''  The  book,  itself  a  cultured  and  erudite  treatise  upon  a  matter  too 

often  left  to  teachers  of  mere  physical  accomplishments,  is  further  recommended  by  an 

introduction  from  the  pen  of  an  eminent  American  divine,  Dr.  Francis  G.  Peabody.     It 

deserves  the  attention  of  every  one  interested  in  its  subject." 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT 

SCRIPTURE  READINGS  FOR  SCHOOLS  AND  FAMILIES. 
By  C.  M.  YoNGE.  Globe  8vo.  is.  6d.  each  ;  also  with  comments, 
3s.  6d.  each. — First  Series:  Genesis  to  Deuteronomy. — Second 
Series:  Joshua  to  Solomon. — Third  Series:  Kings  and  the 
Prophets. — Fourth  Series  :  The  Gospel  Times. — Fifth  Series  : 
Apostolic  Times. 

THE  DIVINE  LIBRARY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  Its 
Origin,  Preservation,  Inspiration,  and  Permanent  Value.  By  Rev. 
A.  F.  KiRKPATRiCK,  B.D.     Crown  8vo.     3s.  net. 

TIMES. — "An  eloquent  and  temperate  plea  for  the  critical  study  of  the  Scriptures." 
MANCHESTER  GUAJin/AIV.—'' An  excejlent  introduction  to  the  modern  view 
of  the  Old  Testament.  .  .  .  The  learned  author  is  a  genuine  critic.  .  .  .  He  expounds 
clearly  what  has  been  recently  called  the  '  Analytic '  treatment  of  the  books  of  the  Old 
Testament,  and  generally  adopts  its  results.  .  .  .  The  volume  is  admirably  suited  to 
fulfil  its  purpose  of  familiarising  the  minds  of  earnest  Bible  readers  with  the  work  which 
Biblical  criticism  is  now  doing." 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  PROPHETS.  Warburtonian  Lectures 
1 886- 1 890.  By  Rev.  A.  F.  Kirkpatrick,  B.D.  3rd  Edition. 
Crown  8vo.      6s. 

SCOTSMAN. — "This  volume  gives  us  the  result  of  ripe  scholarship  and  competent 
learning  in  a  very  attractive  form.  It  is  written  simply,  clearly,  and  eloquently  ;  and  it 
invests  the  subject  of  which  it  treats  with  a  vivid  and  vital  interest  which  will  commend 
it  to  the  reader  of  general  intelligence,  as  well  as  to  those  who  are  more  especially 
occupied  with  such  studies." 

GLASGOIV  HERALD.—"  Professor  Kirkpatrick's  book  will  be  found  of  great  value 
for  purposes  of  study." 

BOOKMAN. — "As  a  summary  of  the  main  results  of  recent  investigation,  and  as  a 
thoughtful  appreciation  of  both  the  human  and  divine  sides  of  the  prophets'  work  and 
message,  it  is  worth  the  attention  of  all  Bible  students." 

THE  PATRIARCHS  AND  LAWGIVERS  OF  THE  OLD 
TESTAMENT.  By  Frederick  Denison  Maurice.  New 
Edition.      Crown  8vo.      3s.  6d, 

THE  PROPHETS  AND  KINGS  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 
By  the  same.      New  Edition.      Crown  8vo.      3s.  6d. 

THE  CANON   OF  THE   OLD  TESTAMENT.      An   Essay  on   the 

Growth  and  Formation  of  the  Hebrew  Canon  of  Scripture.      By  the 

Right  Rev.  H.  E.  Ryle,  Bishop  ofWinchester.  2nd  Ed.  Cr.  8vo.  6s. 

EXPOSITOR. — "  Scholars  are  indebted  to  Professor  Ryle  for  having  given  them  for 

the  first  time  a  complete  and  trustworthy  history  of  the  Old  Testament  Canon." 

EXPOSITORY  TIMES.— "He  rightly  claims  that  his  book  possesses  that  most 

English  of  virtues — it  may  be  read  throughout.  .  .  .  An  extensive  and  minute  research 

lies  concealed  under  a  most  fresh  and  flexible  English  style." 

B 


6  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.'S 

The  Old  Testament— co;i/mued. 

THE  MYTHS  OF  ISRAEL.    THE  ANCIENT  BOOK  OF  GENESIS. 
WITH   ANALYSIS   AND   EXPLANATION  OF  ITS  COM- 
POSITION.     By  Amos  Kidder  Fiske,  Author  of  "  The  Jewish 
Scriptures,"  etc.      Crown  8vo.      6s. 
THE  EARLY  NARRATIVES  OF   GENESIS.      By  the  Right  Rev. 

H.  E.  Ryle,  Bishop  of  Winchester.      Cr.  8vo.      3$;  net. 
PHILO  AND  HOLY  SCRIPTURE;  OR,  THE  QUOTATIONS  OF 
PHILO  FROM  THE  BOOKS  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 
With   Introduction  and  Notes  by  the   Right  Rev.    H.   E.   Ryle, 
Bishop  of  Winchester.      Cr.  8vo.      los.  net. 
In  the  present  work  the  attempt  has  been  made  to  collect,  arrange  in 
order,  and  for  the  first  time  prhit  in  full  all  the  actual  quotations  from  the 
books  of  the  Old  Testament  to  be  found  in  Philo's  writings,  and  a  few  of 
his  paraphrases.     For  the  purpose  of  giving  general  assistance  to  students 
Dr.  Ryle  has  added  footnotes,  dealing  principally  with  the  text  of  Philo's 
quotations  compared  with  that  of  the  Septuagint ;  and  in  the  introduction 
he  has  endeavoured  to  explain  Philo's  attitude   towards   Holy  Scripture, 
and  the  character  of  the  variations  of  his  text  from  that  of  the  Septuagint. 

TIMES. — "  This  book  will  be  found  by  students  to  be  a  very  useful  supplement  and 
companion  to  the  learned  Dr.  Drummond's  important  work,  Philo  Judceus." 

The  Pentateuch — 

AN  HISTORICO-CRITICAL  INQUIRY  INTO  THE  ORIGIN 
AND  COMPOSITION  OF  THE  HEXATEUCH  (PENTA- 
TEUCH AND  BOOK  OF  JOSHUA).  By  Prof.  A.  Kuenen. 
Translated  by  Philip  H.  Wicksteed,  M.A.     Svo.      14s. 

The  Psalms— 

GOLDEN  TREASURY  PSALTER.  The  Student's  Edition. 
Being  an  Edition  with  briefer  Notes  of  "The  Psalms  Chrono- 
logically Arranged  by  Four  Friends."      Pott  Svo.      2s.  6d.  net. 

THE-PSALMS.  With  Introductions  and  Critical  Notes.  By  A.  C. 
Jennings,  M.A.,  and  W.  H.  Lowe,  M.A.  In  2  vols.  2nd 
Edition.      Crown  Svo.      los.  6d.  each. 

TLIE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS.  Edited  with  Comments  and  Reflections 
for  the  Use  of  Jewish  Parents  and  Children.  By  C.  G.  Monte- 
FiORE.      Crown  Svo.      is.  net. 

THE  PRAYER-BOOK  PSALMS.  Relieved  of  Obscurities,  and 
made  smoother  for  Chanting,  with  scarcely  noticeable  alteration. 
By  the  Rev.  E.  D.  Cree,  M.A.      Fcap.  Svo.      2s.  net. 

Isaiah — 

ISAIAH  XL.— LXVI.  With  the  Shorter  Prophecies  allied  to  it. 
By  Matthew  Arnold.     With  Notes.      Crown  Svo.      5s. 

A  BIBLE -READING  FOR  SCHOOLS.  The  Great  Prophecy  of 
Israel's  Restoration  (Isaiah  xl.-lxvi.)  Arranged  and  Edited  for 
Young  Learners.      By  the  same.      4th  Edition.      Pott  Svo.      is. 

Zechariah — 

THE  HEBREW  STUDENT'S  COMMENTARY  ON  ZECH- 
ARIAH, Hebrew  and  LXX.   By  W.  H.  Lowe,  M.A.  Svo.  los.  6d. 


THEOLOGICAL  CATALOGUE  7 

THE    NEW   TESTAMENT 

THE  AKHMLM  FRAGMENT  OF  THE  APOCRYPHAL 
GOSPEL  OF  ST.  PETER.  By  H.  B.  Swete,  D.D.  8vo.   5s.  net. 

THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE  IN  THE  NEW  TESTA- 
MENT: The  Bampton  Lectures,  1864.  By  Canon  Thomas 
Dehany  Bernard,  M.A.      Fifth  Edition.     Crown  8vo.      6s. 

HANDBOOK  TO  THE  TEXTUAL  CRITICISM  OF  NEW 
TESTAMENT.  By  F.  G.  Kenyon,  D.Litt.,  Assistant  Keeper 
of  Manuscripts  in  the  British  Museum.      8vo.      los,  net. 

THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  IN  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 
Eight  Lectures.  By  Professor  E.  C.  Moore  of  Harvard  University. 
Crown  8vo.      6s.  6d.  net. 

THE  RISE  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  By  Davjd  Saville 
MuzzEY,  B.D.      Fcap.  8vo.      5s. 

Immanuel  Kant. — "  The  Rise  of  the  Bible  as  the  people's  book  is  the  greatest 
blessing  that  the  human  race  has  ever  experienced." 

THE  SOTERIOLOGY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.      By  W. 

P.  Du  BosE,  M.A.      Crown  8vo.      7s.  6d. 
THE  MESSAGES  OF  THE  BOOKS.      Being  Discourses  and  Notes 

on  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament.    By  Dean  Farrar.    8vo.    14s. 
ON  A  FRESH  REVISION  OF  THE  ENGLISH  NEW  TESTA- 
MENT.    With   an    Appendix   on   the  last   Petition  of  the  Lord's 

Prayer.      By  Bishop  Lightfoot.     Crown  8vo.     7s.  6d. 
DISSERTATIONS   ON   THE  APOSTOLIC    AGE.      By   Bishop 

Lightfoot.     8vo.      14s. 
BIBLICAL  ESSAYS.     By  Bishop  Lighifoot.     8vo.     12s. 
THE  UNITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.     By  F.  D.  Maurice. 

2nd  Edition.     2  vols.      Crown  8vo.      I2s. 
A  GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  CANON 

OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  DURING  THE  FIRST  FOUR 

CENTURIES.     By  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Westcott.     7th  Edition. 

Crown  8vo.      los.  6d. 
THE  STUDENT'S  LIFE  OF  JESUS.     By  G.  H.  Gilbert,  Ph.D. 

Crown  Svo.      5s.  net. 
THE  STUDENT'S  LIFE  OF  PAUL.     By  G.  H.  Gilbert,  Ph.D. 

Crown  Svo.      5s.  net. 
THE  REVELATION  OF  JESUS  :  A  Study  of  the  Primary  Sources 

of  Christianity.     By  G,  H.  Gilbert,  Ph.D.     Crown  Svo.     5s.  net. 
THE  FIRST  INTERPRETERS  OF  JESUS.     By  G.  H.  Gilbert, 

Ph.D.      Crown  Svo.      5s.  net. 
NEW     TESTAMENT     HANDBOOKS.        Edited     by    Shailer 

Mathews,  Professor  of  New  Test.  Hist,  at  the  Universityof  Chicago. 

A  HISTORY  OF  NEW  TESTAMENT  TIMES  IN  PALES- 
TINE (175  B.C.-70  A.D.).  By  Shailer  Mathews,  A.M. 
Crown  Svo.      3s.  6d.  net. 

A  HISTORY  OF  THE  TEXTUAL  CRITICISM  OF  THE 
NEW  TESTAMENT.  By  Marvin  R.  Vincent,  D.D. 
Crown  Svo.     3s.  6d.  net. 

THE  BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTA- 
MENT.   By  Ezra  P.  Gould,  D.D.    Crown  Svo.    3s.  6d.  net. 


8  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.'S 

The  New  Testament — continued. 

A   HISTORY   OF   THE   HIGHER    CRITICISM   OF    THE 
NEW  TESTAMENT.     By  Prof.  H.  S.  Nash.     3s.  6d.  net. 
AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.      By 

B.  W.  Bacon,  D.D.  Crown  8vo.  3s.  6d.  net. 
THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS.  By  G.  B.  Stevens,  D.D. 
Crown  8vo.  3s.  6d.  net. 
THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  IN  TPIE  ORIGINAL  GREEK.  The 
Text  revised  by  Bishop  Westcott,  D.D.,  and  Prof.  F.  J.  A. 
HoRT,  D.D.  2  vols.  Crown  8vo.  los.  6d.  each. — Vol.  I. 
Text ;  II.   Introduction  and  Appendix. 

Library  Edition.    Svo.     ios.net.      \Text  iji  Macmillan  Greek  Type. 
School  Edition.      i2mo,   cloth,   4s.   6d. ;   roan,    5s.  6d.  ;    morocco, 
6s.  6d.  ;  India  Paper  Edition,  limp  calf,  7s.  6d.  net. 
GREEK-ENGLISH  LEXICON  TO  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 
By  W.  J.  HiCKiE,  M.A.     Pott  Svo.     3s. 
ACADEMY. — "We  can  cordially  recommend  this  as  a  very  handy  little  volume 
compiled  on  sound  principles." 

GRAMMAR   OF   NEW   TESTAMENT   GREEK.      By  Prof.   F. 
Blass,  University  of  Halle.    Auth.  English  Trans.    Svo.     14s.net. 
TIMES. — "Will  probably  become  the  standard  book  of  reference  for  those  students 
who  enter  upon  minute  grammatical  study  of  the  language  of  the  New  Testament." 

THE  GOSPELS- 
PHILOLOGY  OF  THE  GOSPELS.     By  Prof.  F.  Blass.     Crown 
Svo.     4S.  6d.  net. 
GUARDIAN. — "  On  the  whole,   Professor  Blass's  new  book  seems  to  us  an  im- 
portant contribution  to  criticism.  ...   It  will  stimulate  inquiry,  and  will  open  up  fresh 
lines  of  thought  to  any  serious  student." 

THE  SYRO-LATIN  TEXT  OF  THE  GOSPELS.      By  the  Rev. 

Frederic  Henry  Chase,  D.D.     Svo.     7s.  6d.  net. 
The  sequel  of  an  essay  by  Dr.  Chase  on  the  old  Syriac  element  in  the 
text  of  Codex  Bezae. 

TIMES. — "  An  important  and  scholarly  contribution  to  New  Testament  criticism." 
SYNOPTICON  :  An  Exposition  of  the  Common  Matter  of  the  Synop- 
tic Gospels.     By  W.  G.  Rushbrooke.      Printed  in  Colours.      410. 
35s.  net.      Indispensable  to  a  Theological  Student. 
A  SYNOPSIS  OF  THE  GOSPELS  IN  GREEK.     With  various 
Readings  and  Critical  Notes.     By  the  Rev.  Arthur  Wright, 
B.D.,   Vice-President  of  Queens'  College,    Cambridge.       Second 
Edition,  Revised  and  Enlarged.      Demy  4to.      los.  net. 
The  difference  between  the  first  and   second  forms  of  this  book   is 
important,  practical  considerations  having  led  to  the  enlargement  of  the 
original.      Passages  previously' omitted  are  now  included  in  brackets  and 
printed  in  a  distinctive    type   to  indicate  the  foreign  character  of  such 
accretions  to  the  primitive  text.     Various  readings  have  been  added  ;  so 
have  also  an  introduction,  many  critical  and   a  few  grammatical  notes. 
The   author's  primary  object  has  been  to    make  available  all  the  facts 
relating  to  the  text  of  the  Gospels  :   he  has,  as  a  secondary  proceeding, 
explained  his  own  deduction  from  the  construction  which  he  himself  puts 
on  them — and  this  deduction  points  to  an  origin  not  in  written  but  in  oral 
tradition.     The  case  for  it  is  fully  argued  in  the  introduction. 

THE   COMPOSITION    OF   THE   FOUR   GOSPELS.     By  Rev. 
Arthur  Wright.     Crown  Svo.     5s. 


THEOLOGICAL  CATALOGUE  9 

The  Gospels — continued. 

CAMBRIDGE  R E y/£ fV.—"  The  wonderful  force  and  freshness  which  we  find  on 
every  page  of  the  book.  There  is  no  sign  of  hastiness.  All  seems  to  be  the  outcome  of 
years  of  reverent  thought,  now  brought  to  light  in  the  clearest,  most  telling  way.  .  .  . 
The  book  will  hardly  go  unchallenged  by  the  different  schools  of  thought,  but  all  will 
agree  in  gratitude  at  least  for  its  vigour  and  reality." 

INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  THE  FOUR  GOSPELS. 

By  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Westcott.     8th  Ed.     Cr.  8vo.      los.  6d. 
FOUR  LECTURES   ON   THE    EARLY   HISTORY    OF    THE 
GOSPELS.      By  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Wilkinson,  M.A.,  Rector  of 

Stock  Gaylard,  Dorset.     Crown  8vo.     3s.  net. 
THE  LEADING  IDEAS   OF  THE  GOSPELS.     By  W.   Alex- 

ANDER,  D.D.  Oxon.,  LL.D,  Dublin,  D.C.L.  Oxon.,  Archbishop  of 

Armagh,  and  Lord  Primate  of  All  Ireland.     New  Edition,  Revised 

and  Enlarged.      Crown  8vo,      6s. 
TWO    LECTURES    ON    THE    GOSPELS.       By  F.   Crawford 

BuRKiTT,  M.A.      Crown  8vo.      2s.  6d.  net. 

Gospel  of  St.  Matthew — 

THE  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  ST.  MATTHEW.  Greek  Text 
as  Revised  by  Bishop  Westcott  and  Dr.  Hort.  With  Intro- 
duction and  Notes  by  Rev.  A.  Sloman,  M.A.     Fcap.  8vo.     2s.  6d. 

MANCHESTER  GUARDIAN.—''  It  is  sound  and  helpful,  and  the  brief  introduc- 
tion on  Hellenistic  Greek  is  particularly  good." 

Gospel  of  St.  Mark— 

THE    GREEK    TEXT.       With    Introduction,   Notes,   and   Indices. 

By  Rev.    H.    B.    Svvete,    D.D,,    Regius    Professor    of   Divinity 

in  the  University  of  Cambridge.      2nd  Edition.      8vo.      15s. 

TIMES. — "A  learned  and  scholarly  performance,  up  to  date  with  the  most  recent 
advances  in  New  Testament  criticism." 

THE  EARLIEST  GOSPEL.  A  Historico-Critical  Commentary  on 
the  Gospel  according  to  St.  Mark,  with  Text,  Translation,  and  In- 
troduction. By  Allan  Menzies,  Professor  of  Divinity  and  Biblical 
Criticism,  St.  Mary's  College,  St.  Andrews.  8vo.  8s.  6d.  net. 
SCHOOL  READINGS  IN  THE  GREEK  TESTAMENT. 
Being  the  Outlines  of  the  Life  of  our  Lord  as  given  by  St.  Mark,  with 
additions  from  the  Text  of  the  other  Evangelists.  Edited,  with  Notes 
and  Vocabulary,  by  Rev.  A.  Calvert,  M.A.  Fcap.  8vo.  2s.  6d. 
Gospel  of  St.  Luke — 

THE  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  ST.  LUKE.     The  Greek  Text 
as  Revised  by  Bishop  Westcott  and  Dr.  Hort.   With  Introduction 
and  Notes  by  Rev.  J.  Bond,  M.A.      Fcap.  8vo.      2s.  6d. 
GLASGOiV  HERALD, — "The  notes  are  short  and  crisp — suggestive  rather  than 
exhaustive." 

THE  GOSPEL  OF  THE  KINGDOM  OF  HEAVEN.  A  Course 
of  Lectures  on  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke.  By  F.  D.  Maurice. 
Crown  8vo.      3s.  6d. 

THE  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  ST.  LUKE  IN  GREEK, 
AFTER  THE  WESTCOTT  AND  HORT  TEXT.  Edited, 
with  Parallels,  Illustrations,  Various  Readings,  and  Notes,  by  the 
Rev.  Arthur  Wright,  M.A.     Demy  4to.     7s.  6d.  net. 


10  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.'S 

The  Gospels — co7itinued. 

ST.  LUKE  THE  PROPHET.    By  Edward  Carus  Selwyn,  D.D. 

Gospel  of  St.  John —  [Crown  8vo.      8s.  6d.  net. 

THE  CENTRAL  TEACHING  OF  CHRIST.     Being  a  Study  and 

Exposition  of  St.  John,  Chapters  XIII.  to  XVII.     By  Rev.  Canon 

Bernard,  M.A.     Crown  8vo.      7s.  6d. 

EXPOSITOR  Y  TIMES.—"  Quite  recently  we  have  had  an  exposition  by  him  whom 
many  call  the  greatest  expositor  living.  But  Canon  Bernard's  work  is  still  the  work  that 
will  help  the  preacher  most." 

THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN.   ByF.D.  Maurice.   Cr.Svo.   3s.  6d. 

THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

ADDRESSES    ON    THE    ACTS    OF    THE    APOSTLES.      By 
the    late    Archbishop    Benson.      With    an    Introduction    by 
Adeline,  Duchess  of  Bedford.     Super  Royal  8vo.     21s.  net. 
THE    CREDIBILITY    OF    THE    BOOK    OF   THE  ACTS    OF 
THE    APOSTLES.       Being  the  Hulsean  Lectures  for    1 900-1. 
By  the  Rev.  Dr.  Chase,  President  of  Queens'  College,  Cambridge. 
Crown  8vo.      6s. 
THE  OLD  SYRIAC  ELEMENT  IN  THE  TEXT  OF  THE  CODEX 
BEZAE.      By  the  Rev.  F.  H.  Chase,  D.D.      8vo.      7s.  6d.  net- 
THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES  IN  GREEK  AND  ENGLISH. 
With  Notes  by  Rev.  F.  Rendai.l,  M.A.     Cr.  8vo.      6s. 
SA  TURD  AY  REVIEW.— "M.x.  Rendall  has  given  us  a  very  useful  as  well  as  a 
very  scholarly  book." 

MANCHESTER  GUARDIAN.— "■  Mr.  Rendall  is  a  careful  scholar  and  a  thought- 
ful writer,  and  the  student  may  learn  a  good  deal  from  his  commentary." 

THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.     By  F.   D.   Maurice.      Cr. 

8vo.      3s,  6d. 
THE   ACTS   OF   THE   APOSTLES.      Being    the    Greek  Text  as 
Revised  by  Bishop  Westcott  and  Dr.  Hort.      With  Explanatory 
Notes  by  T.  E.  Page,  M.A.     Fcap.  8vo.      3s.  6d. 
ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.     The  Authorised  Version,  with  Intro- 
duction   and   Notes,    by   T.    E.    Page,    M.A.,    and    Rev.  A.    S. 
Walpole,  M.A.      Fcap.  8vo.      2s.  6d. 
BRITISH  WEEKLY.—''  Mr.  Page's  Notes  on  the  Greek  Text  of  the  Acts  are  very 
well  known,  and  are  decidedly  scholarly  and  individual.   .  .  .  Mr.  Page  has  written  an 
introduction  which  is  brief,  scholarly,  and  suggestive." 

THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FIRST  DAYS.  The  Church  of 
Jerusalem.  The  Church  of  the  Gentiles.  The  Church 
OF  the  World.  Lectures  on  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  By 
Very  Rev.  C.  J.  Vaughan.      Crown  8vo.      los.  6d. 

THE  EPISTLES— The  Epistles  of  St.  Paul— 

ST.  PAUL'S  EPISTLE  TO  THE  ROMANS.  The  Greek  Text, 
with  English  Notes.  By  Very  Rev.  C.  J.  Vaughan.  7th  Edition. 
Crown  8vo.      7s.  6d. 

ST.  PAUL'S  EPISTLE  TO  THE  ROMANS.  A  New  Transla- 
tion by  Rev.  W.  G.  Rutherford.     8vo.      3s.  6d.  net. 

P/ZC^r.— "Small  as  the  volume  is,  it  has  very  much  to  say,  not  only  to  professed 
students  of  the  New  Testament,  but  also  to  the  ordinary  reader  of  the  Bible.  .  .  _.  The 
layman  who  buys  the  book  will  be  grateful  to  one  who  helps  him  to  realise  that  this  per- 
plexing Epistle  '  was  once  a  plain  letter  concerned  with  a  theme  which  plain  men  might 
understand.'" 


THEOLOGICAL  CATALOGUE  ii 

The  Epistles  of  St.  Paul — continued. 

PROLEGOMENA    TO     ST.     PAUL'S     EPISTLES     TO     THE 

ROMANS  AND  THE  EPHESIANS.     By  Rev.  F.  J.  A.  Hort. 

Crown  8vo.     6s. 

Dr.  Marcus  Dods  in  the  Bookman. — "  Anything  from  tlie  pen  of  Dr.  Hort  is  sure  to 

be  informative  and  suggestive,  and  the  present  publication  bears  his  mark.  .  .  .  There 

is  an  air  of  originality  about  the  whole  discussion  ;  the  difficulties  are  candidly  faced,  and 

the  explanations  offered  appeal  to  our  sense  of  what  is  reasonable." 

TIMES. — "Will  be  welcomed  by  all  theologians  as  'an  invaluable  contribution  to  the 
study  of  those  Epistles '  as  the  editor  of  the  volume  justly  calls  it." 

DAILY  CHRONICLE. — "The  lectures  are  an  important  contribution  to  the  study 
of  the  famous  Epistles  of  wh'ch  they  treat." 

ST.   PAUL'S  EPISTLE  TO  THE  GALATIANS.      An  Essay  on 

its  Destination  and  Date.     By  E.    H.  Askvvith,   D.D.      Crown 

8vo.      3s.  6d.  net. 
ST.    PAUL'S    EPISTLE    TO    THE    GALATIANS.     A    Revised 

Text,    with  Introduction,    Notes,  and   Dissertations.      By   Bishop 

LiGHTFOOT.      loth  Edition.      8vo.      12s. 
ST.  PAUL'S  EPISTLE  TO  THE  EPHESIANS.     The  Greek  Text 

with  Notes.     By  the  late  Bishop  Westcott.     8vo.     [hi  the  Press. 
ST.    PAUL'S    EPISTLE    TO    THE    EPHESIANS.     A   Revised 

Text  and  Translation,  with  Exposition  and  Notes.    By  J.  Armitage 

Robinson,  D.D.,  Dean  of  Westminster.     2nd  Edition.   8vo.     12s. 

GUARDIAN. — "Although  we  have  some  good  commentaries  on  Ephesians,  ...  no 
one  who  has  studied  this  Epistle  would  say  that  there  was  no  need  for  further  light  and 
leading ;  and  the  present  volume  covers  a  good  deal  of  ground  which  has  not  been 
covered,  or  not  nearly  so  well  covered,  before." 

CHURCH  TIMES. — "We  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  this  volume  will  at 
once  take  its  place  as  the  standard  commentary  upon  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians.  .  .  . 
We  earnestly  beg  the  clergy  and  intelligent  laity  to  read  and  ponder  over  this  most 
inspiring  volume." 

PILOT. — "We  can  scarcely  give  higher  praise  to  Dr.  Robinson's  'Ephesians'  than 
that  which  is  implied  in  the  expression  of  our  opinion  that  it  is  worthy  of  a  place  beside 
the  commentaries  of  Lightfoot,  Westcott,  and  Swete.  And  an  exposition  of  this  Epistle 
on  the  scale  of  their  writings  was  much  needed.  .  .  .  For  soberness  of  judgment,  accuracy 
of  scholarship,  largeness  of  view,  and  completeness  of  sympathy  with  the  teaching  of 
St.  Paul,  the  work  which  is  now  in  our  hands  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired.  ...  A  work 
which  is  in  every  way  so  excellent,  and  which  in  every  page  gives  us  a  fresh  insight  into 
the  meaning  and  purpose  of  what  is,  from  at  least  one  point  of  view,  the  greatest  of 
St.  Paul's  Epistles." 

ST.  PAUL'S  EPISTLE  TO  THE  PHILTPPIANS.  A  Revised 
Text,  with  Introduction,  Notes,  and  Dissertations.  By  Bishop 
Lightfoot.     9th  Edition.     8vo.      12s. 

ST.  PAUL'S  EPISTLE  TO  THE  PHILIPPIAN5.  With  transla- 
tion, Paraphrase,  and  Notes  for  English  Readers.  By  Very  Rev. 
C.  J.  Vaughan.      Crown  8vo.      5s. 

ST.  PAUL'S  EPISTLES  TO  THE  COLOSSIANS  AND  TO 
PHILEMON.  A  Revised  Text,  with  Introductions,  etc.  By 
Bishop  Lightfoot.     9th  Edition.     8vo.     12s. 

THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  COLOSSIANS.  Analysis  and  Ex- 
amination Notes.    By  Rev.  G.  W.  Garrod.     Crown  8vo.     3s.  net. 

AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THESSALONIAN  EPISTLES. 
By  E.  H.  Askvvith,  D.D.,  Chaplain  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 
Crown  8vo.     4s.  net. 


12  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.'S 

The  Epistles  of  St.  Paul — continued. 

THE   FIRST  EPISTLE  TO  THE  THESSALONIANS.     With 

Analysis  and  Notes  by  the  Rev.  G.  W.  Garrod,  B.A.      Crown 

8vo.      2s.  6d.  net. 
THE  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  THE  THESSALONIANS.     With 

Analysis  and  Notes  by  Rev.  G.  W.  Garrod.    Cr.  8vo.    2s.  6d.  net. 
THE  EPISTLES  OF  ST.  PAUL  TO  THE  EPHESIANS,  THE 

COLOSSIANS,  AND   PHILEMON.     With  Introductions  and 

Notes.      By  Rev.  J.  Ll.  Davies.      2nd  Edition.      8vo.      7s.  6d. 
THE  EPISTLES  OF  ST.  PAUL.    For  English  Readers.    Part  I.  con- 
taining the  First  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians.      By  Very  Rev.  C. 

J.  Vaughan.     2nd  Edition.     8vo.      Sewed,      is.  6d. 
NOTES  ON  EPISTLES  OF  ST.  PAUL  FROM  UNPUBLISHED 

COMMENTARIES.      By   Bishop   Lightfoot,   D.D.      Second 

Edition.      8vo.      12s. 
THE  LETTERS    OF    ST.    PAUL    TO    SEVEN    CHURCHES 

AND  THREE  FRIENDS.     Translated  by  Arthur  S.  Way, 

M.A.      Crown  8vo.      5s.  net. 
AN    ANALYSIS    OF    ST.     PAUL'S    EPISTLES.       By    Bishop 

Lightfoot,  D.D.     8vo.  \In  the  Press. 

The  Epistles  of  St.  Peter— 

THE  FIRST  EPISTLE  OF  ST.  PETER,  L  i  to  IL  17.  The  Greek 
Text,  with  Introductory  Lecture,  Commentary,  and  additional 
Notes.    By  the  late  F.  J.  A.  HoRT,  D.  D. ,  D.  C. L. ,  LL.  D.   8vo.   6s. 

THE  FIRST  EPISTLE  OF  ST.  PETER  (Greek  Text).  Bj 
J.  Howard  B.  Masterman,  Principal  of  the  Midland  Clergy 
College,  Edgbaston,  Birmingham.      Crown  8vo.      3s.  6d.  net. 

The  Epistle  of  St.  James — 

THE  EPISTLE  OF  ST.  JAMES.     The  Greek  Text,  with  Intro- 
duction and  Notes.      By  Rev.  Joseph  B.   Mayor,   M.A.     2nd 
Edition.      8vo.      14s.  net. 
EXPOSITORY  TIMES.— "The  most  complete  edition  of  St.  James  in  the  English 
language,  and  the  most  serviceable  for  the  student  of  Greek." 

BOOKMA  N.—"  Professor  Mayor's  volume  in  every  part  of  it  gives  proof  that  no  time 
or  labour  has  been  grudged  in  mastering  this  mass  of  literature,  and  that  in  appraising  it 
he  has  exercised  the  sound  judgment  of  a  thoroughly  trained  scholar  and  critic.  .  .  . 
The  notes  are  uniformly  characterised  by  thorough  scholarship  and  unfailing  sense.  The 
notes  resemble  rather  those  of  Lightfoot  than  those  of  Ellicott.  ...  It  is  a  pleasure  to 
welcome  a  book  which  does  credit  to  English  learning,  and  which  will  take,  and  keep,  a 
foremost  place  in  Biblical  literature." 

The  Epistles  of  St.  John— 

THE  EPISTLES  OF  ST.  JOHN.     By  F.  D.  Maurice.     Crown 

8vo.      3s.  6d. 
THE  EPISTLES  OF  ST.  JOHN.     The  Greek  Text,  with  Notes. 

By  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Westcott.     4th  Edition.     8vo.     12s.  6d. 

GUARDIAN. — "  It  contains  a  new  or  rather  revised  text,  with  careful  critical  remarks 
and  helps  ;  very  copious  footnotes  on  the  text  ;  and  after  each  of  the  chapters, 
longer  and  more  elaborate  notes  in  treatment  of  leading  or  difficult  questions,  whether  in 
respect  of  reading  or  theology.  .  .  .  Dr.  Westcott  has  accumulated  round  them  so  much 
matter  that,  if  not  new,  was  forgotten,  or  generally  unobserved,  and  has  thrown  so  rnuch 
light   upon  their    language,    theology,    and    characteristics.  .  .  .  The    notes,    critical, 


THEOLOGICAL  CATALOGUE  13 

The  Epistles  of  St.  John — continued. 

illustrative,  and  exegetical,  which  are  given  beneath  the  text,  are  extraordinarily  full  and 
careful.  .  .  .  They  exhibit  the  same  minute  analysis  of  every  phrase  and  word,  the  same 
scrupulous  weighing  of  every  inflection  and  variation  that  characterised  Dr.  Westcott's 
commentary  on  the  Gospel.  .  .  .  There  is  scarcely  a  syllable  throughout  the  Epistles 
which  is  dismissed  without  having  undergone  the  most  anxious  interrogation." 

SA  TURD  A  Y  REVIEW. — "  The  more  we  examine  this  precious  volume  the  more 
its  exceeding  richness  in  spiritual  as  well  as  in  literary  material  grows  upon  the  mind." 

The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews — 

THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS  IN  GREEK  AND 
ENGLISH.     With  Notes.     By  Rev.  F.  Rendall.    Cr.  8vo.    6s. 

THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  English  Text,  with  Com- 
mentary.     By  the  same.      Crown  8vo.      7s.  6d. 

THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  With  Notes.  By  Very 
Rev.  C.  J.  Vaughan.     Crown  8vo.     7s.  6d. 

TIMES. — "The  name  and  reputation  of  the  Dean  of  Llandaff  are  a  better  recom- 
mendation than  we  can  give  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  the  Greek  text,  with  notes  ; 
an  edition  which  represents  the  results  of  more  than  thirty  years'  experience  in  the  training 
of  students  for  ordination." 

THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  The  Greek  Text,  with 
Notes  and  Essays.  By  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Westcott.  Svo.  14s. 
GUARDIAN. — "  In  form  this  is  a  companion  volume  to  that  upon  the  Epistles  of  St. 
John.  The  type  is  excellent,  the  printing  careful,  the  index  thorough  ;  and  the  volume 
contains  a  full  introduction,  followed  by  the  Greek  text,  with  a  running  commentary,  and 
a  number  of  additional  notes  on  verbal  and  doctrinal  points  which  needed  fuller  discus- 
sion. .  .  .  His  conception  of  inspiration  is  further  illustrated  by  the  treatment  of  the  Old 
Testament  in  the  Epistle,  and  the  additional  notes  that  bear  on  this  point  deserve  very 
careful  study.  The  spirit  in  which  the  student  should  approach  the  perplexing  questions 
of  Old  Testament  criticism  could  not  be  better  described  than  it  is  in  the  last  essay." 

The  Book  of  Revelations — 

THE   APOCALYPSE    OF    ST.   JOHN.     The  Greek  Text,  with 

Introduction,    Notes,   and  Indices  by   the  Rev.    Professor  H.   B. 

SwETE,  D.D.      Svo.  \hi  the  Press. 

THE    APOCALYPSE.       A   Study.       By    Archbishop    Benson. 

Svo.     8s.  6d.  net. 
LECTURES    ON    THE    APOCALYPSE.       By    Rev.    Prof.     W. 

MiLLiGAN.      Crown  Svo.      5s. 
DISCUSSIONS  ON  THE  APOCALYPSE.  By  the  same.  Cr.  Svo.  5s. 

SCOTSMAN. — "  These  discussions  give  an  interesting  and  valuable  account  and 
criticism  of  the  present  state  of  theological  opinion  and  research  in  connection  with  their 
subject." 

SCOTTISH  GUARDIAN.—"  The  great  merit  of  the  book  is  the  patient  and  skilful 
way  in  which  it  has  brought  the  whole  discussion  down  to  the  present  day.  .  .  .  The 
result  is  a  volume  which  many  will  value  highly,  and  which  will  not,  we  think,  soon  be 
superseded." 

LECTURES  ON  THE  REVELATION  OF  ST.  JOHN.  By  Very 
Rev.  C.  J.  Vaughan.      5th  Edition.     Crown  Svo.      los.  6d. 

THE  CHRISTIAN  PROPHETS  AND  THE  PROPHETIC 
APOCALYPSE.  By  Edward  Carus  Selwyn,  D.D.  Crown 
Svo.     6s.  net. 

THE  BIBLE  WORD-BOOK.     By  W.  Alois  Wright,  Litt.D., 
LL.D.      2nd  Edition.      Crown  Svo.      7s.  6d. 
C 


14  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.'S 

Cbrietian  Cburcb,  Ibietori^  of  tbe 

Bury  (Professor  J.  B.)— THE  LIFE  OF  ST.  PATRICK,  AND 
PITS  PLACE  IN  HISTORY.     8vo.      12s.  net. 

Clieetliam(Archdeacon).— A  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN 
CHURCH  DURING  THE  FIRST  SIX  CENTURIES.  Cr. 
8vo.      IDS.  6d. 

TIMES. — "  A  brief  but  authoritative  summary  of  early  ecclesiastical  history." 
GLASGOW  HERALD. — "  Particularly  clear  in  its  exposition,  systematic  in  its  dis- 
position and  development,  and  as  light  and  attractive  in  style  as  could  reasonably  be 
expected  from  the  nature  of  the  subject." 

A  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH  FROM  THE  RE- 
FORMATION TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME.    Cr.  8vo.    lln  the  Press. 
Gwatkin(H.M.)— SELECTIONS  FROM  EARLY  WRITERS 

Illustrative  of  Church  History  to  the  Time  of  Constantine.      2nd 

Edition.      Revised  and  Enlarged.      Cr.  Svo.      4s.  6d.  net. 

To  this  edition  have  been  prefixed  short  accounts  of  the  writers 

from  whom  the  passages  are  selected. 
Hardwick  (Archdeacon).— A  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN 

CHURCH.  Middle  Age.  Ed.  by  Bishop  Stubbs.  Cr.  Svo.  los.  6d. 
A  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH  DURING  THE 

REFORMATION.  Revised  by  Bishop  Stubbs.  Cr.  Svo.    los.  6d. 
Hort    (Dr.    F.    J.    A.)  — TWO     DISSERTATIONS.       I.     On 

MONOFENHS  GEOS  in   Scripture   and   Tradition.      II.    On  the 

"  Constantinopolitan "    Creed   and    other    Eastern   Creeds   of  the 

Fourth  Century.     Svo.     7s.  6d. 
JUDAISTIC  CHRISTIANITY.      Crown  Svo.      6s. 
THE  CHRISTIAN  ECCLESIA.      A  Course  of  Lectures  on   the 

Early  History  and  Early  Conceptions  of  the  Ecclesia,  and  Four 

Sermons.      Crown  Svo.      6s. 
Kriiger    (Dr.     G.)— HISTORY    OF     EARLY    CHRISTIAN 

LITERATURE  IN  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES.    Cr. 

Svo.      Ss.  6d.  net. 
Lowrie  (W.)— CHRISTIAN    ART    AND    ARCHEOLOGY: 

A  HANDBOOK  TO  THE  MONUMENTS  OF  THE  EARLY 

CHURCH.      Crown  Svo.      los.  6d.  [Svo.      21s.  net. 

Oliphant  (T.  L.  Kington).— ROME  AND   REFORM.      2  vols. 
Simpson  (W.)— AN  EPITOME  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE 

CHRISTIAN  CHURCH.     Fcap.  Svo.      3s.  6d. 
Sohm     (Prof)  — OUTLINES     OF     CHURCH      HISTORY. 

Translated  by  Miss  May  Sinclair.     With  a  Preface  by  Prof.  H. 

M.  GwATKiN,  M.A.  Crown  Svo.  3s.  6d. 
MANCHESTER  GUARDIAN.—''  It  fully  deserves  the  praise  given  to  it  by  Pro- 
fessor Gwatkin  (who  contributes  a  preface  to  this  translation)  of  being  '  neither  a  meagre 
sketch  nor  a  confused  mass  of  facts,  but  a  masterly  outline,'  and  it  really  'supplies  a 
want,'  as  affording  to  the  intelligent  reader  who  has  no  time  or  interest  in  details,  a  con- 
nected general  view  of  the  whole  vast  field  of  ecclesiastical  history."      , 

Vaughan  (Very  Rev.  C.  J.)— THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FIRST 
DAYS.  The  Church  of  Jerusalem.  The  Church  of  the 
Gentiles.    The  Church  of  the  World.    Crown  Svo.    los.  6d. 


THEOLOGICAL  CATALOGUE  15 

^be  Cburcb  of  ienglan& 

Catechism  of — 

CATECHISM  AND  CONFIRMATION.  By  Rev.  J.  C.  P. 
Aldous.     Pott  8vo.      IS.  net. 

THOSE  HOLY  MYSTERIES.  By  Rev.  J.  C.  P.  Aldous.  Pott 
8vo.      IS.  net. 

A  CLASS-BOOK  OF  THE  CATECHISM  OF  THE  CHURCH 
OF  ENGLAND.     By  Rev.  Canon  Maclear.     Pott  8vo.     is.  6d. 

A  FIRST  CLASS-BOOK  OF  THE  CATECHISM  OF  THE 
CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND,  with  Scripture  Proofs  for  Junior 
Classes  and  Schools.      Bv  the  same.      Pott  Svo.      6d. 

THE  ORDER  OF  CONFIRMATION,  with  Prayers  and  Devo- 
tions.    By  the  Rev.  Canon  Maclear.     32mo.     6d. 

NOTES  FOR  LECTURES  ON  CONFIRMATION.  By  the 
Rev.  C.  J.  Vaughan,  D.D.     Pott  Svo.      is.  6d. 

THE  BAPTISMAL  OFFICE  AND  THE  ORDER  OF  CON- 
FIRMATION. By  the  Rev.  F.  Procter  and  the  Rev.  Canon 
Maclear.     Pott  Svo.     6d. 

Disestablishment — 

DISESTABLISHMENT  AND   DISENDOWMENT.      What    are 

they?     By  Prof.  E.  A.  Freeman.     4th  Edition.     Crown  Svo.     is. 
A  DEFENCE  OF  TPIE   CHURCH   OF   ENGLAND  AGAINST 

DISESTABLISHMENT.     By  Roundell,  Earl  of  Selborne. 

Crown  Svo.      2S.  6d. 
ANCIENT  FACTS  &  FICTIONS  CONCERNING  CHURCHES 

AND  TITHES.    By  the  same.    2nd  Edition.    Crown  Svo.    7s.  6d. 
A  HANDBOOK  ON  WELSH  CHURCH   DEFENCE.      By  the 

Bishop  of  St.  Asaph.      3rd  Edition.      Fcap.  Svo.     Sewed,  6d. 

Dissent  in  its  Relation  to — 

DISSENT  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENG- 
LAND. By  Rev.  G.  H.  Curteis.  Bampton  Lectures  for  1S71. 
Crown  Svo.      7s.  6d. 

History  of — 

HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  CHURCH.  Edited  by  the  late 
Dean  Stephens  and  the  Rev.  W.  Hunt,  D.Liit.  In  Eight 
Volumes.      Crown  Svo. 

Vol.  L  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 
FROM  ITS  FOUNDATION  TO  THE  NORMAN  CON- 
QUEST (597-1066).     By  the  Rev.  W.  Hunt.     7s.  6d. 

[Ready. 
Vol.  IL     THE  ENGLISH  CHURCH  FROM  THE  NOR- 
MAN CONQUEST  TO  THE  ACCESSION  OF  EDWARD 
I.  (1066- 1 272).     By  Dean  Stephens.     7s.  6d.  [Ready. 

Vol.  HI.  THE  ENGLISH  CHURCH  IN  THE  FOUR- 
TEENTH AND  FIFTEENTH  CENTURIES  (1272-1486). 
By  the  Rev.  Canon  Capes,  sometime  Reader  of  Ancient 
History  in  the  University  of  Oxford.     7s.  6d.  [Ready. 


i6  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.'S 

History — cojitimied. 

Vol.  IV.  THE  ENGLISH  CHURCH  IN  THE  SIX- 
TEENTH CENTURY,  FROM  THE  ACCESSION  OF 
HENRY  VIII.  TO  THE  DEATH  OF  MARY  (i 509-1558). 
By  James  Gairdner,  C.B.,  LL.D.     7s.  6d.  \^Ready. 

Vol.  V.  THE  ENGLISH  CHURCH  IN  THE  REIGNS  OF 
ELIZABETH  AND  JAMES  I.  (1558-1625).  By  the  Rev. 
W.  H.  Frere.      7s.  6d,  iJ^eady. 

Vol.  VI.  THE  ENGLISH  CHURCH  FROM  THE  ACCES- 
SION OF  CHARLES  L  TO  THE  DEATH  OF  ANNE 
(1625-1714).  By  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Hutton,  B.D.,  Fellow  of 
St.  John's  College,  Oxford.      7s.  6d.  {I^eady. 

Vol.     VH.        THE      ENGLISH      CHURCH      IN      THE 
EIGHTEENTH     CENTURY.         By     the     Rev.      Canon 
Overton,  D.D.,  and  the  Rev.  F.  Relton.     7s.  6d.  {Ready. 
In  Preparation. 
Vol.  VIII.     THE    ENGLISH  CHURCH    IN  THE  NINE- 
TEENTH CENTURY.     By  F.  W.  Cornish,  M.A.,  Vice- 
Provost  of  Eton  College. 
THE  STATE   AND    THE  CHURCH.       By  the   Hon.   Arthur 

Elliot.     New  Edition.     Crown  Svo.     2s.  6d. 
DOCUMENTS    ILLUSTRATIVE    OF    ENGLISH     CHURCH 
HISTORY.      Compiled  from  Original  Sources  by  Henry  Gee, 
B.D.,  F.S.A.,  andW.  J.  Hardy,  F.S.A.     Cr.  Svo.      los.  6d. 
ENGLISH  HISTORICAL  REVIEW.—''  Will  be  welcomed  alike  by  students  and 
by  a  much  wider  circle  of  readers  interested  in  the  history  of  the  Church  of  England. 
For  the  benefit  of  the  latter  all  the  Latin  pieces  have  been  translated  into  English.  .  .  . 
It  fully  deserves  the  hearty  imprimatur  of  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  prefixed  to  it." 

DAILY  CHRONICLE.— ^'  Students  of  the  English  Constitution  as  well  as  students 
of  Church  History  will  find  this  volume  a  valuable  aid  to  their  researches." 

SCOTTISH  GUARDIAN.— '"Th^TQ  is  no  book  in  existence  that  contains  so  much 
original  material  likely  to  prove  valuable  to  those  who  wish  to  investigate  ritual  or 
historical  questions  affecting  the  English  Church." 

Holy  Communion — 

THE     COMMUNION     SERVICE    FROM     THE     BOOK    OF 

COMMON    PRAYER,   with  Select  Readings  from  the  Writings 

of  the  Rev.  F.  D.  Maurice.      Edited  by  Bishop  Colenso.     6th 

Edition.      i6mo.      2s.  6d. 
FIRST  COMMUNION,  with   Prayers   and  Devotions  for  the  newly 

Confirmed.      By  Rev.  Canon  Maclear.      32mo.      6d. 
A  MANUAL  OF  INSTRUCTION  FOR  CONFIRMATION  AND 

FIRST  COMMUNION,   with   Prayers  and   Devotions.      By  the 

Liturgy —  [same.      32mo.      2s. 

A  COMPANION  TO  THE  LECTIONARY.    By  Rev.  W.  Benham, 

B.D.      Crown  Svo.      4s.  6d. 
AN    INTRODUCTION    TO    THE    CREEDS.       By   Rev.    Canon 

Maclear.     Pott  Svo.     3s.  6d. 

CHURCH  QUAR  TERL  V  REVIEW.—"  Mr.  Maclear's  text-books  of  Bible  history 
are  so  well  known  that  to  praise  them  is  unnecessary.  He  has  now  added  to  them  An 
Introduction  to  the  Creeds,  which  we  do  not  hesitate  to  call  admirable.  The  book 
consists,  first,  of  an  historical  introduction,  occupying  53  pages,_  then  an  exposition  of 
the  twelve  articles  of  the  Creed  extending  to  page  299,  an  appendix  containing  the  texts 
of  a  considerable  number  of  Creeds,  and  lastly,  three  indices  which,  as  far  as  we  have 
tested  them,  we  must  pronounce  very  good.  .  .  .We  tnay  add  that  we  know  already 
that  the  book  has  been  used  with  great  advantage  in  ordinary  parochial  work." 


THEOLOGICAL  CATALOGUE  17 

Liturgy — continued. 

AN      INTRODUCTION     TO     THE     ARTICLES     OF     THE 
CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND.      By  Rev.  G.  F.  Maclear,  D.D.. 
and  Rev.  W.  W.  Williams.     Crown  8vo.      los.  6d. 
The  Bishop  of  Salisbury  at  the  Church  Congress  spoke  of  this  as  "  a  book  which 
will  doubtless  have,  as  it  deserves,  large  circulation." 

ST.  JAMES'S  GAZ ETTE.—"  'i'heo\og\ca.\  students  and  others  will  find  this  com- 
prehensive yet  concise  volume  most  valuable." 

GLASGOW  HERALD.— "■  K  valuable  addition  to  the  well-known  series  of  Theo- 
logical  Manuals  published  by  Messrs.  Macmillan." 

CHURCH  TIMES. — "Those  who  are  in  any  way  responsible  for  the  training  of 
candidates  for  Holy  Orders  must  often  have  felt  the  want  of  such  a  book  as  Dr.  Maclear, 
with  the  assistance  of  his  colleague,  Mr.  Williams,  has  just  published." 

NEW  HISTORY  OF    THE    BOOK    OF    COMMON   PRAYER. 
With  a  rationale  of  its  Offices  on  the  basis  of  the  former  Work  by 
Francis  Procter,   M.A.     Revised  and  re-v^^ritten  by  Walter 
Howard  Frere,  M.A.,  Priest  of  the  Community  of  the  Resur- 
rection.     Second  Impression.      Crown  8vo.      12s.  6d. 
AN   ELEMENTARY    INTRODUCTION   TO    THE   BOOK   OF 
COMMON  PRAYER.     By  Rev.  F.  Procter  and  Rev.  Canon 
Maclear.     Pott  8vo.     2s.  6d. 
THE    ELIZABETHAN   PRAYER-BOOK  AND    ORNAMENTS. 
With   an   Appendix-  of   Documents.       By    Henry    Gee,    D.D. 
Crown  Svo.      5s, 
TWELVE  DISCOURSES  ON  SUBJECTS  CONNECTED  WITH 
THE  LITURGY  AND  WORSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF 
ENGLAND.       By    Very  Rev.   C.  J.   Vaughan.      4th    Edition. 
Fcap.  Svo.     6s. 
Historical  and  Biographical — 

THE    ECCLESIASTICAL    EXPANSION    OF    ENGLAND    IN 
THE    GROWTH    OF    THE    ANGLICAN.   COMMUNION. 
Hulsean  Lectures,  1894-95.     By  Alfred  Barry,  D.D.,  D.C.L., 
formerly  Bishop  of  Sydney  and  Primate  of  Australia  and  Tasmania. 
Crown  8vo.      6s. 
The  author's  preface  says  :   *'  The  one  object  of  these  lectures — delivered 
on  the  Hulsean  Foundation  in   1894-95 — is  to  make  some  slight  contribu- 
tion to  that  awakening  of  interest  in  the  extraordinary  religious  mission  of 
England  which  seems  happily  characteristic  of  the  present  time. " 

DAILY  NEWS. — "  These  lectures  are  particularly  interesting  as  containing  the  case 
for  the  Christian  missions  at  a  time  when  there  is  a  disposition  to  attack  them  in  some 
quarters." 

LIVES  OF  THE  ARCHBISHOPS  OF  CANTERBURY.  From 
St.  Augustine  to  Juxon.  By  the  Very  Rev.  Walter  Farquhar 
Hook,  D.D.,  Dean  of  Chichester.  Demy  8vo.  The  volumes  sold 
separately  as  follows  : — Vol.  I.,  15s.  ;  Vol.  II.,  15s.  ;  Vol.  V., 
15s.  ;  Vols.  VI.  and  VII.,  30s.  ;  Vol.  VIIL,  15s.  ;  Vol.  X., 
15s.  ;  Vol.  XL,  15s.  ;  Vol.  XII.,  15s. 
ATHENyE UM. — "The  most  impartial,  the  most  instructive,  and  the  most  interest- 
ing of  histories." 

THE  LIFE  OF  THE  RIGHT  REVEREND  BROOKE  FOSS 
WESTCOTT,  D.D.,  Late  Lord  Bishop  of  Durham.  By  his  Son, 
the   Rev,   Arthur   Westcott.      With    Photogravure    Portraits. 


i8  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.'S 

Historical  and  Biographical — continued. 

2  vols.      Extra  Crown  8vo.      17s.  net.      Abridged  edition  in  One 
Vol.      Extra  Crown  8vo.      8s.  6d.  net. 

MEMOIR  OF  ARCHBISHOP  TEMPLE.  By  Seven  Friends. 
Edited  by  E.  G.  Sandford.  With  Photogravure  and  other 
Illustrations.      2  vols.      8vo.  [/;;  the  Press. 

LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  ARCHBISHOP  BENSON.  By  his 
Son. 

Abridged  Edition.      In  one  Vol.      8s.  6d.  net. 

CHARLOTTE  MARY  YONGE  :  HER  LIFE  AND  LETTERS. 
By  Christabel  Coleridge.    With  Portraits.    8vo.    12s.6d.net. 

LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  AMBROSE  PHILLIPPS  DE  LISLE. 
By  E.  S.  Purcell.     Two  Vols.     8vo.     25s.  net. 

THE  OXFORD  MOVEMENT.  Twelve  Years,  1833-45.  By 
Dean  Church.     Globe  8vo.     4s.  net. 

THE  LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  R.  W.  CHURCH,  late  Dean 
of  St.  Paul's.      Globe  8vo.     4s.  net. 

LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  FENTON  JOHN  ANTHONY 
HORT,  D.D.,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  sometime  Hulsean  Professor  and 
Lady  Margaret's  Reader  in  Divinity  in  the  University  of  Cambridge. 
By  his  Son,  Arthur  Fenton  Hort,  late  Fellow  of  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge.     In  two  Vols.    With  Portrait.     Ex.  Cr.  8vo.     1 7s.  net. 

THE  LIFE  OF  FREDERICK  DENISON  MAURICE.      Chiefly 
told  in  his  own  letters..   Edited  by  his  Son,  Frederick  Maurice. 
With  Portraits.      Two  Vols.      Crown  8vo.      i6s. 
MEMORIALS.     (PART  I.)  FAMILY  AND  PERSONAL,  1766- 
1865.     By  Roundell,  Earl  of  Selborne.     With  Portraits  and 
Illustrations.   Two  Vols.   8vo.    25s.net.    (PART  H.)  PERSONAL 
AND  POLITICAL,  1865-1895.     Two  Vols.      25s.  net. 
LIFE   OF   ARCHIBALD    CAMPBELL   TAIT,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury.       By    Archbishop     Davidson    and    William 
Benham,    B.D.,    Hon.    Canon  of  Canterbury.      With    Portraits. 
3rd  Edition.     Two  Vols.      Crown  8vo.      los.  net. 
LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  WILLIAM   JOHN   BUTLER,    late 
Dean  of  Lincoln,  sometime  Vicar  of  Wantage.     8vo.     12s.  6d.  net. 
TIMES. — "  We  have  a  graphic  picture  of  a  strong  personality,  and  the  example  of 
a   useful   and   laborious   life.    .    .    .    Well  put  together  and  exceedingly  interesting  to 
Churchmen." 


IN  THE  COURT  OF  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTER- 
BURY. Read  and  others  v.  The  Lord  Bishop  of  Lincoln. 
Judgment,  Nov.  21,  1890.      2nd  Edition.      8vo.      2s.  net. 

THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY  ON  RESERVATION 
OF  THE  SACRAMENT.  Lambeth  Palace,  May  i,  1900. 
8vo.     Sewed,      is.  net. 


THEOLOGICAL  CATALOGUE  19 

Historical  and  Biographical — continued. 

THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  YORK  ON  RESERVATION  OF 

SACRAMENT.     Lambeth  Palace,  May  i,  1900.     8vo.     Sewed. 

IS.  net. 
JOURNAL  OF  THEOLOGICAL  STUDIES.    Quarterly.    3s.  6d. 

net.      (No.  I,  October  1899.)     Yearly  volumes,  14s.  net. 
CANTERBURY  DIOCESAN   GAZETTE.      Monthly.     Svo.     2d. 
JEWISH  QUARTERLY  REVIEW.     Edited  by  I.  Abrahams  and 

C.  G.  MoNTEFiORE.      Demy  Svo.      3s.  6d.      Vols.   1-7,  12s.   6d. 

each.      Vol.  8  onwards,  15s.  each,      (Annual  Subscription,  lis,)- 

Devotional  "^oo^^ 

Cornish  (J.  F.)— WEEK  BY  WEEK.     Fcap.  Svo.     3s.  6d. 

SPECTA  TOR. — "They  are  very  terse  and  excellent  verses,  generally  on  the  subject 
of  either  the  Epistle  or  Gospel  for  the  day,  and  are  put  with  the  kind  of  practical  vigour 
which  arrests  attention  and  compels  the  conscience  to  face  boldly  some  leading  thought  in 
the  passage  selected." 

SATURDAY  REl^/E IV.— "The  studied  simplicity  of  Mr.  Cornish's  verse  is  al- 
together opposed  to  what  most  hymn -writers  consider  to  be  poetry.  Nor  is  this  the 
only  merit  of  his  unpretentious  volume.  There  is  a  tonic  character  in  the  exhortation 
and  admonition  that  characterise  the  hymns,  and  the  prevailing  sentiment  is  thoroughly 
manly  and  rousing." 

Eastlake  (Lady).— FELLOWSHIP:  LETTERS  ADDRESSED 
TO  MY  SISTER-MOURNERS.     Crown  Svo.     2s.  6d. 

A  THENj^UM. — "  Tender  and  unobtrusive,  and  the  author  thoroughly  realises  the 
sorrow  of  those  she  addresses  ;  it  may  soothe  mourning  readers,  and  can  by  no  means 
aggravate  or  jar  upon  their  feelings." 

CONTEMPORARY  REVIEW.— "  Kvery  touching  and  at  the  same  time  a  Very 
sensible  book.     It  breathes  throughout  the  truest  Christian  spirit." 

NONCONFORMIST.— "  A  beautiful  little  volume,  written  with  genuine  feeling, 
good  taste,  and  a  right  appreciation  of  the  teaching  of  Scripture  relative  to  sorrow  and 
suffering." 

IMITATIO  CHRISTI,   Libri  IV.      Printed  in  Borders  after  Holbein, 

Diirer,  and  other  old  Masters,  containing  Dances  of  Death,  Acts  of 

Mercy,  Emblems,  etc.     Crown  Svo.     7s.  6d. 
Keble   (J.)— THE   CHRISTIAN    YEAR.       Edited  by  C.    M. 

YoNGE.     Pott  Svo.     2s,  6d.  net, 
Kingsley     (Charles).  — OUT    OF    THE     DEEP:     WORDS 

FOR   THE  SORROWFUL.       From   the  writings  of  Charles 

Kingsley.      Extra  Fcap.  Svo.     3s.  6d. 
DAILY  THOUGHTS.      Selected   from   the  Writings  of  Charles 

Kingsley.     By  his  Wife.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 
FROM   DEATH   TO   LIFE.     Fragments  of  Teaching  to  a  Village 

Congregation.     With  Letters  on  the  "Life  after  Death."     Edited 

by  his  Wife.     Fcap,  Svo.     2s.  6d. 

Maclear  (Rev.   Canon),— A    MANUAL    OF   INSTRUCTION 
FOR  CONFIRMATION  AND  FIRST  COMMUNION,  WITH 
PRAYERS  AND  DEVOTIONS.     32mo.     2s. 
THE   HOUR   OF   SORROW;   OR,   THE   OFFICE   FOR  THE 
BURIAL  OF  THE  DEAD.     32mo.     2s. 


20  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.'S 

Maurice  (Frederick  Denison).— LESSONS  OF  HOPE.   Readings 

from  the  Works  of  F.   D.   Maurice.     Selected  by  Rev.  J.   Ll. 

Davies,  M.A.     Crown  8vo.     5s. 
THE    COMMUNION    SERVICE.       From  the  Book  of  Common 

Prayer,  with  select  readings  from  the  writings  of  the  Rev.  F.  D. 

Maurice,  M.A.     Edited  by  the  Rev.  John  William  Colenso, 

D.D,,  Lord  Bishop  of  Natal.      i6mo.      2s.  6d. 
THE  WORSHIP  OF  GOD,  AND  FELLOWSHIP  AMONG  MEN. 

By  Frederick  Denison  Maurice  and  others.    Fcap.  8vo.    3s.  6d. 
RAYS    OF    SUNLIGHT    FOR    DARK    DAYS.     With    a    Preface  by 

Veiy  Rev.  C.  J.  Vaughan,  D.D.   New  Edition.    Pott  8vo.    3s.  6d. 
Welby-Gregory    (The    Hon.    Lady).— LINKS    AND    CLUES. 

2nd  Edition.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 
Westcott  (Bishop).— THOUGHTS  ON  REVELATION  AND 

LIFE.     Selections  from  the  Writings  of  Bishop  Westcott.     Edited 

by  Rev.  S.  Phillips.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 


^be  3fatber0 


INDEX  OF  NOTEWORTHY  WORDS  AND    PHRASES   FOUND 

IN      THE      CLEMENTINE      WRITINGS,      COMMONLY 

CALLED  THE  HOMILIES  OF  CLEMENT.      Svo.      5s. 
Benson  (Archbishop).— CYPRIAN  :  HIS  LIFE,  HIS  TIMES, 

HIS  WORK.     By  the  late  Edward  White  Benson,  Archbishop 

of  Canterbury.  Svo.  2is.net. 
TIMES.—"  In  all  essential  respects,  in  sobriety  of  judgment  and  temper,  in  sym- 
pathetic insight  into  character,  in  firm  grasp  of  historical  and  ecclesiastical  issues,  in 
scholarship  and  erudition,  the  finished  work  is  worthy  of  its  subject  and  worthy  of  its 
author.  ...  In  its  main  outlines  full  of  dramatic  insight  and  force,  and  in  its  details  full 
of  the  fruits  of  ripe  learning,  sound  judgment,  a  lofty  Christian  temper,  and  a  mature 
ecclesiastical  wisdom." 

SATURDAY  REVIEW.— "On  the  whole,  and  with  all  reservations  which  can 
possibly  be  made,  this  weighty  volume  is  a  contribution  to  criticism  and  learning  on 
which  we  can  but  congratulate  the  Anglican  Church.  We  wish  more  of  her  bishops  were 
capable  or  desirous  of  descending  into  that  arena  of  pure  intellect  from  which  Dr.  Benson 
returns  with  these  posthumous  laurels." 

Gwatkin  (H.  M.)— SELECTIONS  FROM  EARLY  WRITERS 
ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  CPIURCH  HISTORY  TO  THE  TIME 
OF  CONSTANTINE.     2nd  Edition.     Crown  Svo.     4s.  6d.  net. 

Hort  (Dr.   F.   J.    A.)— SIX   LECTURES    ON    THE    ANTE- 
NICENE  FATHERS.      Crown  Svo.      3s.  6d. 
TIMES.— "ll\\o\x^  certainly  popular  in  form  and  treatment  they  are  so  in  the  best 

sense  of  the  words,  and  they  bear  throughout  the  impress  of  the  ripe  scholarship,  the 

rare  critical  acumen,  and  the  lofty  ethical  temper  which  marked  all  Dr.  Hort's  work." 

NOTES    ON    CLEMENTINE   RECOGNITIONS.      Crown    Svo. 
4s.  6d. 

Hort  (Dr.  F.  J.  A.)  and  Mayor  (J.  B.)— CLEMENT  OF  ALEX- 
ANDRIA :  MISCELLANIES  (STROMATEIS).  Book  VH. 
The  Greek  Text,  with  Introduction,  Translation,  Notes,  Disserta- 
tions, and  Indices.      Svo.      15s.  net. 


THEOLOGICAL  CATALOGUE  21 

Kriiger  (G.)— HISTORY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIAN  LITERA- 
TURE IN  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES.  Crown  8vo. 
8s.  6d.  net. 

Lightfoot  (Bishop).— THE  APOSTOLIC   FATHERS.      Part  I. 

St.  Clement  of  Rome.  Revised  Texts,  with  Introductions, 
Notes,  Dissertations,  and  Translations.      2  vols.     Svo.      32s. 

THE  APOSTOLIC  FATHERS.  Part  II.  St.  Ignatius  to  St.  Poly- 
CARP.  Revised  Texts,  with  Introductions,  Notes,  Dissertations,  and 
Translations.      -^  vols.     2nd  Edition.     Demy  Svo.      48s. 

THE  APOSTOLIC  FATHERS.  Abridged  Edition.  With  Short 
Introductions,  Greek  Text,  and  English  Translation.      Svo.      i6s. 

MANCHESTER  GUARDIAN.—"  ^  conspectus  of  these  early  and  intensely  in- 
teresting Christian  '  Documents  '  such  as  had  not  hitherto  been  attainable,  and  thereby 
renders  a  priceless  service  to  all  serious  students  of  Christian  theology,  and  even  of 
Roman  history."  • 

NATIONAL  OBSERVER.—"'  From  the  account  of  its  contents,  the  student  may 
appreciate  the  value  of  this  last  work  of  a  great  scholar,  and  its  helpfulness  as  an  aid  to 
an  intelligent  examination  of  the  earliest  post-Apostolic  writers.  The  texts  are  con- 
structed on  the  most  careful  collation  of  all  the  existing  sources.  The  introductions  are 
brief,  lucid,  and  thoroughly  explanatory  of  the  historical  and  criticarquestions  related  to 
the  texts.  The  introduction  to  the  Didache,  and  the  translation  of  the  '  Church  Manual 
of  Early  Christianity,'  are  peculiarly  interesting,  as  giving  at  once  an  admirable  version 
of  it,  and  the  opinion  of  the  first  of  English  biblical  critics  on  the  latest  discovery  in 
patristic  literature." 

Ibpmnologi? 

Bernard  (Canon  T.  D.)  — THE  SONGS  OF  THE  HOLY 
NATIVITY.       Being    Studies    of    the    Benedictus,    Magnificat, 

Gloria  in  Excelsis,  and  Nunc  Dimittis.      Crown  Svo.      5s. 
Brooke  (Stopford  A.)— CHRISTIAN    HYMNS.       Edited   and 

arranged.      Fcap.  Svo.      2s.  6d.  net. 
Selbome  (Roundell,  Earl  of) — 

THE  BOOK  OF  PRAISE.     From  the  best  English  Hymn  Writers. 

Pott  Svo.     2s.  6d.  net: 
A  HYMNAL.     Chiefly  from   The  Book  of  Praise.     In  various  sizes. 

B.  Pott  Svo,  larger  type.    is. — C.  Same  Edition,  fine  paper,    is.  6d. — 

An  Edition  with  Music,  Selected,  Harmonised,  and  Composed  by 

John  Hullah.      Pott  Svo.     3s.  6d. 
Smith  (Horace)— HYMNS  AND    PSALMS.      Ex.  Crown  Svo. 

2s.  6d. 
Woods    (M.     A.)  — HYMNS     FOR     SCHOOL    WORSHIP 

Compiled  by  M.  A.  Woods.     Pott  Svo.      is.  6d. 

1ReIi0iou6  ZEeacbing 

Bell  (Rev.  G.  C.)— RELIGIOUS  TEACHING  IN  SECOND- 
ARY SCHOOLS.  For  Teachers  and  Parents.  Suggestions  as 
to  Lessons  on  the  Bible,  Early  Church  History,  Christian  Evidences, 
etc.  By  the  Rev.  G.  C.  Bkll,  M.A.,  Master  of  Marlborough 
College.  2nd  Edition.  With  new  chapter  on  Christian  Ethic. 
Crown  Svo.  3s.  6d. 
GUARDIAN. — "The  hints  and  suggestions  given  are  admirable,  and,  as  far  as  Bible 

teaching  or  instruction  in  '  Christian  Evidences '  is  concerned,  leave  nothing  to  be  desired. 


22  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.'S 

Bell  (Rev.  G.  C.) — continued. 

Much  time  and  thought  has  evidently  been  devoted  by  the  writer  to  the  difficulties  which 
confront  the  teacher  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  volume  is  taken  up 
with  the  consideration  of  this  branch  of  his  subject." 

EDUCATIONAL  REVIEW.— ''Y or  those  teachers  who  are  dissatisfied  with  the 
existing  state  of  things,  and  who  are  striving  after  something  better,  this  little  handbook 
is  invaluable.  Its  aim  is  '  to  map  out  a  course  of  instruction  on  practical  lines,  and  to 
suggest  methods  and  books  which  may  point  the  way  to  a  higher  standpoint  and  a  wider 
horizon.'  For  the  carrying  out  of  this,  and  also  for  his  criticism  of  prevailing  methods, 
all  teachers  owe  Mr,  Bell  a  debt  of  gratitude  ;  and  if  any  are  roused  to  a  due  sense  of 
their  responsibility  in  this  matter,  he  will  feel  that  his  book  has  not  been  written  in  vain." 

Gilbert  (Dr.  G.  H.)— A  PRIMER  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN 
RELIGION.  IBased  on  the  Teaching  of  Jesus,  its  Founder  and 
Living  Lord.      Crown  8vo.      4s.  6d.  net. 

Sermone,  Xecturea,  Hb&reeeee,  anb 
^beological  lEeea^e 

{See  also  ^  Bible  y''  '  Church  of  England,^  *  Fathers'') 

Abbey  (Rev.  C.  J.)— THE  DIVINE  LOVE:  ITS  STERN- 
NESS, BREADTH,  AND  TENDERNESS.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 

GUARDIAN. — "This  is  a  book  which,  in  our  opinion,  demands  the  most  serious 
and  earnest  attention." 

Abbott  (Rev.  Dr.  E.  A.)— 

CAMBRIDGE  SERMONS.     8vo.     6s. 
OXFORD  SERMONS.     Svo.     7s.  6d. 

Abrahams  (Israel).— FESTIVAL  STUDIES.  Being  Thoughts 
on  the  Jewish  Year.      Crown  Svo.  [/«  the  Press. 

Abrahams  (I.)— Montefiore  (C.G.)— ASPECTS  OF  JUDAISM. 

Being  Eighteen  Sermons.  2nd  Edition.  Fcap.  Svo.  3s.  6d.  net. 
TIMES.—"  There  is  a  great  deal  in  them  that  does  not  appeal  to  Jews  alone,  for, 
especially  in  Mr.  Montefiore's  addresses,  the  doctrines  advocated,  with  much  charm  of 
style,  are  often  not  by  any  means  exclusively  Jewish,  but  such  as  are  shared  and 
honoured  by  all  who  care  for  religion  and  morality  as  those  terms  are  commonly  under- 
stood in  the  western  world." 

_  GLASGOW  HERALD.— "Both  from  the  homiletic  and  what  may  be  called  the 
big- world  point  of  view,  this  little  volume  is  one  of  considerable  interest." 

Ainger  (Rev.  Alfred).— THE  GOSPEL  AND  HUMAN  LIFE. 

Edited,  with  Preface,  by  Canon  Beech ing.      Cr.  Svo.      6s. 

DAILY  NEWS.—"  We  think  we  can  safely  say  that  no  one  commencing  to  read  this 
volume  will  leave  any  single  sermon  unread.  Canon  Ainger  was  a  careful  and  conscien- 
tious writer,  and  composed  his  sermons  with  a  fidelity  to  literary  form  and  exactness  of 
expression  that  will  please  the  most  imperious  critic.  If  we  were  to  single  out  any  one 
quality  of  these  discourses,  it  would  be  the  close,  searching  analysis  of  human  nature. 
He  was  a  close  observer  of  human  life  in  all  its  strange  inconsistencies  and  varying 
moods,  a  shrewd  judge  of  motive  and  disposition." 

Askwith   (E.    H.)— THE   CHRISTIAN    CONCEPTION    OF 

HOLINESS.      Crown  Svo.      6s. 

THE  SPECTA  TOR.—"  A  well-reasoned  and  really  noble  view  of  the  essential  pur- 
pose of  the  Christian  revelation.  .  .  .  We  hope  that  Mr.  Askwith's  work  will  be  widely 
read." 


THEOLOGICAL  CATALOGUE  23 

Bather  (Archdeacon).— ON  SOME  MINISTERIAL  DUTIES, 
CATECHISING,  PREACHING,  etc.  Edited,  with  a  Preface, 
by  Very  Rev.  C.  J.  Vaughan,  D.D,      Fcap.  8vo.      4s.  6d. 

Beeching  (Rev.  Canon  H.  C.)— INNS  OF  COURT  SERMONS. 

Crown  8vo.      4s.  6d. 
Benson  (Archbishop) — 

BOY-LIFE  :    its    Trial,    its     Strength,    its     Fulness.       Sundays    in 

Wellington  College,  1859-73.      4th  Edition.      Crown  8vo.      6s. 
CHRIST  AND  HIS  TIMES.      Addressed  to  the  Diocese  of  Canter- 
bury in  his  Second  Visitation.      Crown  8vo.      6s. 
FISHERS  OF  MEN.      Addressed  to  the  Diocese  of  Canterbury  in 
his  Third  Visitation.      Crown  8vo.      6s. 
Gl/AI^p/AN.— "There  is  plenty  of  plain  speaking  in  the  addresses  before  us,  and 
they  contain  many  wise  and  thoughtful  counsels  on  subjects  of  the  day." 

TIMES. — "With  keen  insight  and  sagacious  counsel,  the  Archbishop  surveys  the 
condition  and  prospects  of  the  church." 

ARCHBISHOP  BENSON   IN   IRELAND.      A  record  of  his  Irish 

Sermons   and   Addresses.      Edited   by  J.   H.   Bernard.      Crown 

8vo.      3s.  6d. 

PALL  MALL  GAZETTE. — "No  words  of  mine  could  appreciate,  or  do  justice 

to,  the  stately  language  and  lofty  thoughts  of  the  late  Primate  ;  they  will  appeal  to 

every  Churchman." 

Bernard  (Canon  T.D.)— THE  SONGS  OF  THE  HOLY  NATIV- 
ITY CONSIDERED  (i)  AS  RECORDED  IN  SCRIPTURE, 
(2)  AS  IN  USE  IN  THE  CHURCH.      Crown  8vo.      5s. 

GLASGOW  HERALD. — "  He  conveys  much  useful  information  in  a  scholarly  way.' 

SCOTSMAN. — "  Their  meaning  and  their  relationships,  the  reasons  why  the  Church 

has  adopted  them,  and  many  other  kindred  points,  are  touched  upon  in  the  book  with  so 

well-explained  a  learning  and  with  so  much  insight  that  the  book  will  be  highly  valued 

by  those  interested  in  its  subject." 

Brastow  (Prof.  L.  O.)  — REPRESENTATIVE  MODERN 
PREACHERS.     Crown  8vo.      6s.  6d.  net. 

Brooke  (Rev.  Stopford  A.)— SHORT  SERMONS.    Cr.  Svo.    6s. 

Brooks  (Phillips,  late  Bishop  of  Massachusetts) — 

THE  CANDLE  OF  THE  LORD,  and  other  Sermons.    Cr.  Svo.    6s. 
SERMONS  PREACHED   IN   ENGLISH  CHURCHES.     Crown 

Svo,      6s. 
TWENTY  SERMONS.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 
THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  WORLD.     Crown  Svo.      3s.  6d. 
THE  MYSTERY  OF  INIQUITY.      Crown  Svo.      6s. 
ESSAYS  AND  ADDRESSES,  RELIGIOUS,  LITERARY,  AND 
SOCIAL.     Edited  by  the  Rev.  John  Cotton  Brooks.     Crown 
Svo.     Ss.  6d.  net. 
NEW  STARTS  IN  LIFE,  AND  OTHER  SERMONS.      Crown 
Svo.      6s. 
WESTMINSTER  GAZETTE.—"  k\\  characterised  by  that  fervent  piety,  catho- 
licity of  spirit,  and  fine  command  of  language  for  which  the  Bishop  was  famous." 

THE    MORE    ABUNDANT    LIFE.       Lenten   Readings.      Royal 
i6mo.      5^* 


24  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.'S 

Brooks  (Phillips,  late  Bishop  of  Massachusetts) — continued. 

THE  LAW  OF  GROWTH,  and  other  Sermons.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 

SCOTSMAN. — "All  instinct  with  the  piety,  breadth  of  mind,  and  eloquence  which 
have  given  Phillips  Brooks'  pulpit  prolocutions  their  rare  distinction  among  productions 
of  this  kind,  that  of  being  really  and  truly  suitable  for  more  Sundays  than  one." 

GLOBE. — "  So  manly  in  outlook  and  so  fresh  and  suggestive  in  treatment." 

SEEKING  LIFE,  AND  OTHER  SERMONS.     Crown  8vo.      6s. 

CHRISTIAN  lVORLD.  —  "lt  will,  we  think,  be  generally  agreed  that  the  twenty- 
one  sermons  in  this  concluding  volume  are  worthy  to  rank  with  the  other  volumes  of  a 
notable  series.  There  is  the  wonted  felicity  in  the  choice  of  subjects,  and  the  wonted 
combination  of  spiritual  insight  and  practical  force  in  their  treatment." 

THE    INFLUENCE    OF   JESUS.     The  Bohlen    Lectures,    1879. 

Crown  8vo.      6s. 
LECTURES  ON  PREACHING  DELIVERED  AT  YALE  COL- 
LEGE.     Crown  8vo.      6s. 
THE  PHILLIPS  BROOKS  YEAR  BOOK.     Selections  from  the 

Writings  of  Bishop  Phillips  Brooks.      By  H.  L.  S.  and  L.  H.  S. 

Globe  8vo.      3s.  6d.  net. 
CHRIST  THE  LIFE  AND  LIGHT.       Lenten  Readings  selected 

from  the   Writings   of  the    Rt.    Rev.    Phillips   Brooks,   D.D. 

By  W.  M.  L.  Jay.      Crown  8vo.     6s. 
LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  PHILLIPS  BROOKS.      By  A.  V.  G. 

Allen.      3  vols.     8vo.     30s.  net. 

Campbell  (Dr.  John  M'Leod) — 

THE  NATURE  OF  THE  ATONEMENT.  6th  Ed.  Cr.  8vo.  6s. 
THOUGHTS  ON  REVELATION.  2nd  Edition.  Crown  8 vo.  5s. 
RESPONSIBILITY    FOR    THE    GIFT   OF   ETERNAL   LIFE. 

Compiled  from  Sermons  preached  at  Row,  in  the  years  1829-31. 

Crown  8vo.      5  s. 

Carpenter  (W.  Boyd,  Bishop  of  Ripon) — 

TRUTH   IN  TALE.     Addresses,  chiefly  to  Children.      Crown  8vo. 

4s.  6d. 
THE    PERMANENT   ELEMENTS    OF    RELIGION  :    Bampton 

Lectures,  1887.      2nd  Edition.      Crown  8vo.      6s. 
TWILIGHT  DREAMS.      Crown  8vo.      4s.  6d. 
LECTURES  ON  PREACHING.     Crown  8vo.      3s.  6d.  net. 
SOME    THOUGHTS    ON    CPIRISTIAN    REUNION.       Being  a 

Charge  to  the  Clergy.      Crown  8vo.      3s.  6d.  net. 

TIMES. — "  Dr.  Boyd  Carpenter  treats  this  very  difficult  subject  with  moderation 
and  good  sense,  and  with  a  clear-headed  perception  of  the  limits  which  inexorably  cir- 
cumscribe the  natural  aspirations  of  Christians  of  different  churches  and  nationalities  for 
a  more  intimate  communion  and  fellowship." 

LEEDS  MERCURY. — "He  discusses  with  characteristic  vigour  and  felicity  the 
claims  which  hinder  reunion,  and  the  true  idea  and  scope  of  catholicity." 

Charteris  (Prof.  A.  H.)— THE  CHURCH  OF  CHRIST,  ITS 
LIFE  AND  WORK.  An  Attempt  to  trace  the  work  of  the 
Church  in  some  of  its  Departments  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  the 
Present  Day.      Crown  8vo.      6s. 


THEOLOGICAL  CATALOGUE  25 

Cheetham  (Archdeacon). —  MYSTERIES,  PAGAN  AND 
CHRISTIAN.  Being  the  Hulsean  Lectures  for  1896.  Crown 
8vo.     5s. 

CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  WORKING  CLASSES.  A  Series 
of  Papers  by  Church  Leaders  and  Labour  Members.  With  an 
Introduction  by  Geo-rge  Haw.      Crown  8vo.  {In  the  Pi-ess. 

Clmrch  (Dean) — 

HUMAN  LIFE  AND  ITS  CONDITIONS,     Crown  Svo.     6s. 
THE  GIFTS  OF  CIVILISATION,  and  other  Sermons  and  Lectures. 

2nd  Edition.      Crown  Svo.      7s.  6d. 
DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER,  and  other 

Sermons.      Crown  Svo.      4s.  6d. 
ADVENT  SERMONS.      1885.      Crown  Svo.      4s.  6d. 
VILLAGE  SERMONS.      Crown  Svo.      6s. 
VILLAGE  SERMONS.      Second  Series.      Crown  Svo.      6s. 
VILLAGE  SERMONS.      Third  Series.      Crown  Svo.      6s. 

TIMES. — "  In  these  sermons  we  see  how  a  singularly  gifted  and  cultivated  mind  was 
able  to  communicate  its  thoughts  on  the  highest  subjects  to  those  with  whom  it  might 
be  supposed  to  have  little  in  common.  .  .  .  His  village  sermons  are  not  the  by-work  of 
one  whose  interests  were  elsewhere  in  higher  matters.  They  are  the  outcome  of  his 
deepest  interests  and  of  the  life  of  his  choice.  .  .  .  These  sermons  are  worth  perusal  if 
only  to  show  what  preaching,  even  to  the  humble  and  unlearned  hearers,  may  be  made 
in  really  competent  hands." 

CATHEDRAL  AND  UNIVERSITY  SERMONS.    Crown  Svo.   6s. 

PASCAL  AND  OTHER  SERMONS.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 

CLERGYMAN'S  SELF-EXAMINATION  CONCERNING  THE 
APOSTLES'  CREED.      Extra  Fcap.  Svo.      is.  6d. 

Congreve  (Rev.  John).— HIGH  HOPES  AND  PLEADINGS 
FOR  A  REASONABLE  FAITH,  NOBLER  THOUGHTS, 
LARGER  CHARITY.      Crown  Svo.      5s. 

CONVERSATIONS  WITH  CHRIST.  A  Biographical  Study.  By 
the  Author  of  The  Faith  of  a  Christian.      Cr.  Svo.      3s.  6d.  net. 

Davidson  (Archbishop) — 

A    CHARGE    DELIVERED    TO    THE    CLERGY    OF    THE 

DIOCESE    OF    ROCHESTER,    October  29,    30,    31,     1S94. 

Svo.      Sewed.      2s.  net. 
A    CHARGE    DELIVERED    TO    THE    CLERGY    OF    THE 

DIOCESE  OF  WINCHESTER,    Sept.   2S,  30,  Oct.   2,   3,  4, 

and  5,  1S99.      Svo.      Sewed.      2s.  6d.  net. 
THE     CHRISTIAN     OPPORTUNITY.         Being    Sermons    and 

Speeches  delivered  in  America.     Crown  Svo.      3s.  6d.  net, 

SPECTA  TOR.—"  To  all  who  hope  for  and  long  to  help  our  age,  to  the  true  Christian 
and  the  true  patriot  on  both  .sides  of  the  seas,  in  the  new  home  where  the  speaker  spent 
so  happy  and  fruitful  a  .sojourn,  in  the  old  to  which  he  has  returned,  as  we  hope,  refreshed 
and  encouraged,  we  commend  these  hopeful,  prayerful,  .suggestive  words  as  in  a  very  real 
sense  the  best  of  Christmastide  reading." 


26  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.'S 

Davies  (Rev.  J.  Llewelyn) — 

THE  GOSPEL  AND  MODERN  LIFE.     2nd  Edition,  to  which  is 

added   Morality  according  to  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

Extra  fcap.  8vo.      6s. 
SOCIAL    QUESTIONS    FROM    THE    POINT    OF   VIEW   OF 

CHRISTIAN  THEOLOGY.      2nd  Edition.      Crown  8vo.      6s. 
WARNINGS  AGAINST  SUPERSTITION.  Extra  Fcap. 8 vo.  2s.6d. 
THE  CHRISTIAN  CALLING.      Extra  Fcap.  8vo.      6s. 
BAPTISM,   CONFIRMATION,   AND  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER, 

as  interpreted  by  their  Outward  Signs.      Three  Addresses.      New 

Edition.      Pott  8vo.      is. 
ORDER  AND  GROWTH  AS  INVOLVED  IN  THE  SPIRITUAL 

CONSTITUTION  OF  HUMAN  SOCIETY.  Crown  8vo.   3s.  6d. 
SPIRITUAL    APPREHENSION:    Sermons   and   Papers.      Crown 

8vo.     6s. 

Day     (E.    E.)  — SEEKING     THE     KINGDOM.       A     Study. 

Crown  8vo.     6s.  6d.  net. 
THE  DIARY  OF  A  CHURCH-GOER.      Second  Impression.     Crown 

8vo.      Gilt  top.      3s.  6d.  net. 

Canon  Bkeching  in  a  letter  to  the  Editor  of  the  SPECTA  TOR.—''  I  should  like  to 
draw  the  attention  of  your  readers  to  a  book  recently  published,  The  Diary  of  a  Church- 
Goer.  _.  .  .  What  in  my  judgment,  gives  the  book  its  value,  and  makes  it  worth  the 
attention  of  thoughtful  people,  is  the  glimpse  it  affords  of  a  cultivated  mind  worshipping 
and  reflecting  upon  its  religious  experiences.  .  .  .  It  is  this  positive  side  of  the  book  with 
which  I  feel  myself  most  in  sympathy  ;  but  its  critical  side  also  is  worth  serious  attention, 
especially  from  the  clergy,  because  it  will  show  them  where  at  least  one  thoughtful  man 
finds  difficulties." 

Donehoo  (J.  de  Quincey).— THE  APOCRYPHAL  AND  LE- 
GENDARY LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  Being  the  Whole  Body  of 
the  Apocryphal  Gospels  and  other  Extra  Canonical  Literature 
which  pretends  to  tell  of  the  Life  and  Words  of  Jesus  Christ,  in- 
cluding much  Matter  which  has  not  before  appeared  in  English. 
In  continuous  Narrative  Form,  with  Notes,  Scriptural  References, 
Prolegomena,  and  Indices.      8vo.      los.  6d.  net. 

Edghill  (Rev.  E.  A.)— AN  ENQUIRY  INTO  THE  EVI- 
DENTIAL VALUE  OF  PROPHECY.  Being  the  Hulsean 
Prize  Essay  for  1904.      Crown  8vo.  [/;z  the  Press. 

Edwards    (Jonathan),   SELECTED    SERMONS    OF.      Edited 

by  Prof.  H.  N.  Gardiner.      i6mo.      is.  net. 
EUerton   (Rev.  John).— THE   HOLIEST  MANHOOD,  AND 

ITS  LESSONS  FOR  BUSY  LIVES.      Crown  8vo.     6s. 

English  Theological  Library.  Edited  by  Rev.  Frederic 
Relton.  With  General  Introduction  by  the  late  Bishop 
Creighton.  a  Series  of  Texts  Annotated  for  the  Use  of 
Students,  Candidates  for  Ordination,  etc.  8vo. 
Re-isstie  at  Reduced  Prices. 
I.  HOOKER'S  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY,  Book  V.,  Edited 
by  Rev.  Ronald  E.  Bayne.     los.  6d.  net. 


THEOLOGICAL  CATALOGUE  27 

English  Theological  Library — continued. 

IL  LAW'S  SERIOUS  CALL,  Edited  by  Rev.  Canon  J.  H.  Overton. 
4s.  6d.  net. 
DAILY  NEWS. — "A  well-executed  reprint.  .  .  .  Canon  Overton's  notes  are  not 
numerous,  and  are  as  a  rule  very  interesting  and  useful." 

CAMBRIDGE  REVIEW.— "■  h^  welcome  reprint.  ...  All  that  it  should  be  in 
paper  and  appearance,  and  the  reputation  of  the  editor  is  a  guarantee  for  the  accuracy 
and  fairness  of  the  notes." 

III.  WILSON'S  MAXIMS,  Edited  by  Rev.  F.  Relton.     3s.  6d.  net. 

GUARDIAN. — "Many  readers  will  feel  grateful  to  Mr.  Relton  for  this  edition  of 
Bishop  Wilson's  '  Maxims.'  .  .  .  Mr.  Relton's  edition  will  be  found  well  worth  possess- 
ing :  it  is  pleasant  to  the  eye,  and  bears  legible  marks  of  industry  and  study." 

EXPOSITORY  TIMES.—"-  In  an  introduction  of  some  twenty  pages,  he  tells  us 
all  we  need  to  know  of  Bishop  Wilson  and  of  his  maxims.  Then  he  gives  us  the  maxims 
themselves  in  most  perfect  form,  and  schools  himself  to  add  at  the  bottom  of  the  page 
such  notes  as  are  absolutely  necessary  to  their  understanding,  and  nothing  more." 

IV.  THE  WORKS  OF  BISHOP  BUTLER.  Vol.  I.  Sermons, 
Charges,  Fragments,  and  Correspondence.  Vol.  II.  The  Analogy 
of  Religion,  and  two  brief  dissertations  :  I.  Of  Personal  Identity. 
IL  Of  the  Nature  of  Virtue.  Edited  by  the  Very  Rev.  J.  H. 
Bernard,  D.D.,  Dean  of  St.  Patrick's,  Dublin.     4s.  6d.  net  each. 

THE  PILOT. — "  One  could  hardly  desire  a  better  working  edition  than  this  which 
Dr.  Bernard  has  given  us.  .  .   .  Sure  to  become  the  standard  edition  for  students." 
THE  SPECTA  TOR.—"  An  excellent  piece  of  work." 

V.  THE  CONFERENCE  BETWEEN  WILLIAM  LAUD  AND 
MR.  FISHER,  THE  JESUIT.  Edited  by  Rev.  C.  H.  Simpkin- 
SON,  M.A.      Author  of  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Laud.     4s.  6d.  net. 

ESSAYS  ON  SOME  THEOLOGICAL  QUESTIONS  OF  THE 
DAY.  By  Members  of  the  University  of  Cambridge.  Edited  by 
H.  B.  SvvETE,  D.D.      8vo.      12s.  net. 

Everett  (Dr.  C.  C.)— THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  ELEMENTS 

OF  RELIGIOUS  FAITH.     Crown  8vo.      5s.  net. 
EVIL  AND  EVOLUTION.      An  attempt  to  turn  the  Light  of  Modern 

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GUARDIAN. — "The  general  impression  left  upon  our  mind  by  this  book  is  so 
good  that  we  wish  to  recommend  it  to  our  readers'  attention,  for  we  believe  that  any 
one  who  reads  it  through  will  lay  it  down  with  a  feeling  of  gratitude  to  its  author." 

TIMES. — "A  simple,  honest,  and  refreshing  volume.  .  .  .  Those  who  are  least 
inclined  to  agree  with  the  writer's  theses  will  be  first  to  acknowledge  that  his  thoughts 
upon  them  are  worth  reading." 

Farrar  (Very  Rev.  F.  W.,  late  Dean  of  Canterbury) — 

THE  HISTORY  OF  INTERPRETATION.     Being  the  Bampton 

Lectures,  1885.      8vo.      i6s. 
Collected  Edition  of  the  Sermons,  etc.    Cr.  Svo.    3s.  6d.  each. 
SEEKERS  AFTER  GOD. 
ETERNAL  HOPE.     Sermons  Preached  in  Westminster  Abbey.     Also 

8vo.     Sewed.     6d. 
THE  FALL  OF  MAN,  and  other  Sermons. 
THE  WITNESS  OF  HISTORY  TO  CHRIST.     Hulsean  Lectures. 


28  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.'S 

Farrar  (Very  Rev.  F.  W.,  late  Dean  of  Canterbury) — conti?tued. 
Collected  Edition  of  the  Sermons,  etc. — co7itinued. 
THE  SILENCE  AND  VOICES  OF  GOD. 

IN  THE  DAYS  OF  THY  YOUTH.     Sermons  on  Practical  Subjects. 
SAINTLY  WORKERS.     Five  Lenten  Lectures. 
EPHPHATHA  :  or,  The  Amelioration  of  the  World. 
MERCY  AND  JUDGMENT.   A  few  words  on  Christian  Eschatology. 
SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES  delivered  in  America. 
Fiske  (John).— MAN'S  DESTINY  VIEWED  IN  THE  LIGHT 
OF  HIS  ORIGIN.     Crown  8vo.      3s.  6d. 
LIFE  EVERLASTING.     Globe  Svo.     3s.  6d. 
Foxell  (W.  J.)— GOD'S   GARDEN  :    Sunday  Talks  with  Boys. 
With  an  Introduction  by  Dean  Farrar.      Globe  Svo.      3s.  6d. 
SPEAKER. — "Deals  with  obvious  problems   of  faith  and  conduct  in  a  strain   of 
vigorous  simplicity,  and  with  an  evident  knowledge  of  the  needs,  the  moods,  the  diffi- 
culties of  boy-life.     It  is  the  kind  of  book  which  instils  lessons  of  courage,  trust,  patience, 
and  forbearance  ;  and  does  so  quite  as  much  by  example  as  by  precept." 

IN  A  PLAIN  PATH.  Addresses  to  Boys.  Globe  Svo.  3s.  6d. 
SPEAKER. — "  He  handles  with  admirable  vigour,  and  real  discernment  of  a  boy's 
difficulties,  such  high  themes  as  the  use  of  time,  noble  revenge,  the  true  gentleman,  the 
noblest  victory,  and  progress  through  failure.  There  is  nothing  childish  in  the  method  of 
treatment,  and  yet  we  feel  sure  that  a  man  who  spoke  to  a  congregation  of  lads  in  this 
fashion  would  not  talk  over  the  head  of  the  youngest,  and  yet  find  his  way  to  the  hearts 
of  those  who  are  just  passing  from  the  restraints  of  school  to  the  responsibilities  of  life." 

Fraser    (Bishop).  — UNIVERSITY    SERMONS.       Edited    by 

Rev.  John  W.  Diggle.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 
Goodspeed(G.  S.)— ISRAEL'S  MESSIANIC  HOPE  TO  THE 

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beyond.      Crown  Svo.      6s. 
Grane   (W.   L.)— THE   WORD    AND   THE   WAY:    or,    The 

Light  of  the  Ages  on  the  Path  of  To-Day.      Crown  Svo.      6s. 
HARD  SAYINGS  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.     A  Study  in   the  Mind 

and  Method  of  the  Master.      Second  Edition.      Crown  Svo.      5s. 
GREATHEART.       Some  Talks  with   Him.       By  a  Pilgrim.       Crown 

Svo.      3s.  net. 
Green    (S.    G.)— THE    CHRISTIAN    CREED    AND    THE 

CREEDS    OF    CHRISTENDOM.      Seven    Lectures    delivered 

in  1S9S  at  Regent's  Park  College.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 
Griffis   (W.   E.)  — DUX    CHRISTUS.       An   Outline    Study  of 

Japan.      Globe  Svo.      Cloth.      2s.  6d.  net.      Paper,      is.  6d.  net. 
SCOTSMAN. — "A  well-informed  and  valuable  sketch  of  a  large  subject,  it  comes 
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upon  all  aspects  of  Japanese  life." 

Harcourt  (Sir  W.  V.)— LAWLESSNESS  in  the  NATIONAL 
CHURCH.     Svo.     Sewed,     is.  net. 

Hardwick  (Archdeacon). —  CHRIST  AND  OTHER  MAS- 
TERS.     6th  Edition.      Crown  Svo.      los.  6d. 

Hare  (Julius  Charles).— THE  MISSION  OF  THE  COM- 
FORTER. New  Edition.  Edited  by  Dean  Plumptre.  Crown 
Svo.     7s.  6d. 


THEOLOGICAL  CATALOGUE  29 

Haxris    (Rev.    G.    C.)  — SERMONS.       With    a    Memoir    by 
Charlotte  M.  Yonge,  and  Portrait.     Extra  Fcap.  8vo.     6s. 

Headlam  (Rev.  A.  C.)— THE  SOURCES  AND  AUTHORITY 

OF  DOGMATIC  THEOLOGY.      Being  an  Inaugural  Lecture 

delivered  by  the  Rev.  Arthur  C.  Headlam,  D.D.   8vo.  Sewed. 

IS.  net. 

GUARDIAN. — "A  learned  and    valuable  vindication   of   the   place   of  dogmatic 

theology  by  a  scholar  trained  in  historical  and  critical  methods." 

Henson  (Canon  H.   H.)— SERMON    ON   THE   DEATH   OF 
THE  QUEEN.     8vo.     Sewed,      is.  net. 
SINCERITY  AND  SUBSCRIPTION.     A  Plea  for  Toleration  in 

the  Church  of  England.      Globe  Svo.      is.  net. 
THE  VALUE  OF  THE  BIBLE,  AND  OTHER  SERMONS  (1902- 
1904).     With  a  letter  to  the  Lord  Bishop  of  London.    Cr.  Svo.    6s. 
CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND  PULPIT.— ''^N^  can  recommend  this  work  to  our 
readers  with  the  conviction  that  if  more  preachers  were  as  broad-minded  and  as  outspoken 
as  the  Rector  of  St.  Margaret's,  Westminster,  there  would  be  no  lack  of  large  congrega- 
tions in  our  London  churches." 

Hicks  (Rev.  Canon  E.  L.)— ADDRESSES  ON  THE  TEMPTA- 
TION OF  OUR  LORD.     Crown  Svo.      3s.  net. 
HilUs     (N.     D.)  — THE     INFLUECE     OF      CHRIST     IN 
MODERN  LIFE.      A  Study  of  the  New  Problems  of  the  Church 
in  American  Society.     Crown  Svo.      6s. 
THE  QUEST  OF  HAPPINESS.     A  Study  of  Victory  over  Life's 
Troubles.      Extra  Crown  Svo.      6s.  net. 
Hilty  (Carl).— HAPPINESS  :   Essays  on  the  Meaning  of  Life. 
Translated  by  Professor  F.  G.  Peabody.      Crown  Svo.      5s.  net. 
Hodgkins  (Louise  M.)— VIA  CHRISTI  :  An  Introduction  to  the 
Study  of  Missions.      Globe  Svo.      2s.  net.      Sewed.      is.  3d.  net. 
Hoflfding    (Prof.    Harald.)  — THE    PHILOSOPHY    OF    RE- 
LIGION.   Translated  by  Miss  B.  E.  Meyer.    Svo.    [/«  the  Press. 
Hort  (Dr.  t.  J.  A.)— THE  WAY,  THE  TRUTH,  THE  LIFE. 
Hulsean  Lectures,  1S71.      Crown  Svo.      6s. 
CAMBRIDGE  REVIEW.—''  Only  to  few  is  it  given  to  scan  the  wide  fields  of  truth 
with  clear  vision  of  near  and  far  alike.     To  what  an  extraordinary  degree  the  late  Dr. 
Hort  possessed  this  power  is  shown  by  the  Hulsean  Lectures  just  published.     They  carry 
us  in  the  most  wonderful  way  to  the  very  centre  of  the  Christian  system ;   no  aspect  of 
truth,  no  part  of  the  world,  seems  to  be  left  out  of  view  ;  while  in  every  page  we  recog- 
nise the  gathered  fruits  of  a  rare  scholarship  in  the  service  of  an  unwearying  thought." 

JUDAISTIC  CHRISTIANITY.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 
VILLAGE  SERMONS.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 

Selected  from  the  Sermons  preached  by  Professor  Hort  to  his 

village  congregation  at  St.    Ippolyt's,   and  including  a   series   of 

Sermons  dealing  in  a  broad  and  suggestive  way  with  the  successive 

books  of  the  Bible,  from  Genesis  to  Revelation. 
SERMONS  ON  THE   BOOKS  OF  THE  BIBLE  (selected  from 

Village  Sermons).      Crown  Svo.      3s.  6d. 
VILLAGE  SERMONS.     Second  Series.     Cr.  Svo.     6s. 
VILLAGE  SERMONS  IN  OUTLINE.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 

Contents  :  I.  The  Prayer  Book,  16  Sermons.      II.  Baptism, 


30  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.'S 

Hort  (Dr.  F.  J.  A.) — continued. 

5  Sermons.     III.  Mutual  Subjection  the  Rule  of  Life  {Eph.  v.  21), 

6  Sermons.  IV.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  (St.  Matt.  v.  i  ;  vii. 
29),  II  Sermons.  V.  Advent,  4  Sermons.  VI.  The  Armour  of 
the  Cross.      VII.   The  Resurrection,  7  Sermons. 

CAMBRIDGE  AND  OTHER  SERMONS,     Crown  8vo.     6s. 
Hughes  (T.)— THE    MANLINESS    OF    CHRIST.      2nd  Ed. 
Fcap.  8vo.     3s.  6d. 
GLOBE. — "  The  Manliness  of  Christ  is  a  species  of  lay  sermon  such  as  Judge  Hughes 
is  well  qualified  to  deliver,  seeing  that  manliness  of  thought  and  feeling  has  been  ihe 
prevailing  characteristic  of  all  his  literary  products." 

BKITISH  WEEKL  K— "  A  new  edition  of  a  strong  book." 

Hutton  (R.  H.)— 

ESSAYS  ON  SOME  OF  THE  MODERN  GUIDES   OF  ENG- 
LISH THOUGHT  IN  MATTERS  OF  FAITH.      Globe  8vo. 
4s.  net. 
THEOLOGICAL  ESSAYS.     Globe  Svo.     4s.  net. 
ASPECTS    OF    RELIGIOUS   AND    SCIENTIFIC  THOUGHT. 
Selected  from  the  Spectator,  and  edited  by  E.  M.  RoscOE.     Globe 
Svo.     4s.  net. 
Hyde  (V^.  De  W.)— OUTLINES  OF  SOCIAL  THEOLOGY. 
Crown  Svo.      6s. 
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to  point  out  the  logical  relations  in  which  the  doctrines  of  theology  will 
stand  to  each  other  when  the  time  shall  come  again  for  seeing  Christian 
truth  in  the  light  of  reason  and  Christian  life  as  the  embodiment  of  love." 

PRACTICAL  IDEALISM.      Globe  Svo.      5s.  net. 
lUingworth    (Rev.    J.    R.)— SERMONS    PREACHED    IN    A 
COLLEGE  CHAPEL.     Third  Edition.     Crown  Svo.     5s. 
UNIVERSITY  AND  CATHEDRAL  SERMONS.    Crown  Svo.    5s. 
PERSONALITY,   HUMAN  AND  DIVINE.      Bampton   Lectures, 
1S94.      Crown  Svo.      6s.      Also  Svo.      Sewed.      6d. 
TIMES. — "  Will  take  high  rank  among  the  rare  theological  masterpieces  produced  by 
that  celebrated  foundation." 

EXPOSITOR.— '■'■Ix.  is  difficult  to  o  ivey  an  adequate  impression  of  the  freshness 
and  strength  of  the  whole  argument.  ...  It  is  a  book  which  no  one  can  be  satisfied  with 
reading  once  ;  it  is  to  be  studied." 

DIVINE  IMMANENCE.     An  Essay  on  the  Spiritual  Significance  of 

Matter.      New  Edition.     Cr.  Svo.      6s.     Also  Svo.      Sewed.      6d. 

CHURCH  QUARTERLY  REVIEW.— '' P^   very  valuable    book.   .   .   .   Divine 

Immanence  is  likely  to  prove  of  great  service   to  Christian  truth.     It  combines,  to  a 

remarkable  extent,  profound  thought  and  clear  expression.      It  is  throughout  written 

in  an  interesting  style." 

GUARDIAN. — "Altogether,  we  have  rarely  read  a  book  of  such  philosophical 
earnestness  in  construing  the  Christian  view  of  existence  in  terms  of  the  thought  and 
knowledge  of  these  days,  nor  one  more  likely  to  bring  home  the  knowledge  of  a  Saviour 
to  the  modern  man." 

REASON  AND   REVELATION.     An  Essay  in  Christian  Apology. 

Svo.      7s.  6d. 
CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER.      Being  Some  Lectures  on  the  Ele- 
ments of  Christian  Ethics.      New  and   Cheaper  Edition.      Crown 
Svo.      6s. 
TIMES. —"We  should  like  to  follow  Dr.  Illingworth  further,  but  we  have  said  enough 
to  show  that  these  studies  are  rooted  in  deep  reading  of  things  and  men,  and  the  best 
thoughts  of  men,  and  the  fruit  should  be  plentiful  in  proportion." 


THEOLOGICAL  CATALOGUE  31 

Inskip  (Rev.  J.  T.)— THE  PASTORAL   IDEA.       Lectures  in 
Pastoral  Theology  delivered  at  the  King's  College,  London,  during 
the  Lent  term,  1905.     Crown  8vo.      6s. 
Jacob  (Rev.    '].  A.)  — BUILDING    IN    SILENCE,    and  other 

Sermons.     Extra  Fcap,  8vo.     6s. 
Jacob(Rev.J.T.)— CHRIST  THE  INDWELLER.  Cr.Svo.    5s. 
Jellett  (Rev.  Dr.)— 

THE  ELDER  SON,  and  other  Sermons.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 
Joceline  (E.)— THE   MOTHER'S   LEGACIE  TO   HER  UN- 
BORN CHILD.      Cr.  i6mo.     4s.  6d. 
Jones  (Jenkin  Lloyd) — 

JESS:   BITS  OF  WAYSIDE  GOSPEL.     Crown  8vo.      6s. 
A  SEARCH  FOR  AN  INFIDEL:   BITS  OF  WAYSIDE  GOS- 
PEL.     Second  Series.      Crown  8vo.      6s. 
Joseph  (Rev.  Morris).— JUDAISM  AS   CREED  AND   LIFE. 
Extra  Crown  8vo.      5s.  net. 
The  view  of  Judaism  set  forth  in  this  work  lies  midway  between  the 
orthodoxy  which  regards  the  Shulchan  Aruch,  or  at  least  the  Talmud,  as 
the  final  authority  in  Judaism,  and  the  extreme  liberalism  which  would 
lightly  cut  the  religion  loose  from  the  bonds  of  tradition.     The  present 
volume,  then,  may  fairly  lay  claim  to  novelty.     Almost  all  the  expositions 
of  Judaism  which  have  hitherto  appeared  in  England  have  been  written 
from  the  rigidly  conservative  standpoint,  but  thus  far  no  attempt  has  been 
made  to  elucidate  systematically  the  intermediate  position,  and  to  give  a 
comprehensive  account  of  Jewish  belief  and  practice  as  they  are  conceived 
by  men  of  moderate  views. 
Kellogg  (Rev.  S.  H.)— 

THE  GENESIS  AND  GROWTH  OF  RELIGION.     Cr.  8vo.     6s. 

SCOTSMAN.  — "  Full  of  matter  of  an  important  kind,  set  forth  with  praiseworthy 
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the  work  allotted  to  him  with  great  ability,  and  everywhere  manifests  a  competent  ac- 
quaintance with  the  subject  with  which  he  deals." 

King  (Prof.  H.  C.)— RECONSTRUCTION   IN   THEOLOGY. 
Crown  8vo.      6s. 
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THE  EARTH.     Crown  8vo.     3s.  6d. 
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ACADEMY. — "We  can  imagine  nothing  more  appropriate  than  this  edition  for  a 
public,  a  school,  or  even  a  village  library." 


32  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.'S 

Kirkpatrick(Prof.  A.  F.)— THE  DIVINE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

OLD  TESTAMENT.      Its  Origin,  Preservation,  Inspiration,  and 

Permanent  Value.      Crown  8vo.      3s.  net. 
THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  PROPHETS.     Warburtonian  Lectures 

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Knight  (W.  A.)— ASPECTS  OF  THEISM.      8vo.      8s.  6d. 
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an  Introduction  by  Dr.  George   Macdonald.      Twenty-eighth 

Thousand.     Crown  8vo.     2s.  6d. 
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THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY.     Reprinted  from  Dissertations  on 

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LEADERS  IN  THE  NORTHERN  CHURCH  :  Sermons  Preached 

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ORDINATION  ADDRESSES  AND  COUNSELS  TO  CLERGY. 

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and  consummate  scholarship  for  the  illustration  of  his  great  subject,  the  present  volume 
and  its  successor  will  be  warmly  welcomed  by  all  students  of  theology." 

Lillingston    (Frank,    M.A.)— THE    BRAMO    SAMAJ    AND 
ARYA    SAMAJ    IN    THEIR    BEARING    UPON    CHRIS- 
TIANITY.     A  Study  in  Indian  Theism.      Cr.  8vo.      2s.  6d.  net. 
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THE  OLIVE  LEAF.     Globe  8vo.     6s. 

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DAILY  CHROIVICLE.— ''The  poetic  touch  that  beautifies  all  Dr.  Macmillan's 
writing  is  fresh  in  every  one  of  these  charming  addresses.  The  volume  is  sure  to  meet 
with  cordial  appreciation  far  beyond  the  sphere  of  its  origin." 

GLEANINGS  IN  HOLY  FIELDS.     Crown  Svo.      3s.  6d. 
THE  CORN  OF  HEAVEN.     Crown  8vo.      6s. 


THEOLOGICAL  CATALOGUE  33 

Mahaffy  (Rev.  Prof.)— THE  DECAY  OF  MODERN  PREACH- 
ING :  AN  ESSAY.     Crown  8vo.     3s.  6d. 
Marshall   (H.    Rutgers)— INSTINCT    AND     REASON  :    An 
Essay  with  some  Special  Study  of  the  Nature  of  Religion.     8vo. 
I2S.  6d.  net. 
Mason  (Caroline  A.)— LUX  CHRISTI.      An  Outline  Study  of 
India — A  Twilight  Land.     Cr.  8vo.    2s.net.     Sewed,     is.6d.net. 
Mathews    (S.)— THE    SOCIAL    TEACHING    OF    JESUS : 
AN  ESSAY  IN  CHRISTIAN  SOCIOLOGY.    Crown  Svo.     6s. 
Maurice  (Frederick  Denison) — 

THE  KINGDOM  OF  CHRIST.     3rd  Ed.      2  Vols.     Cr.  Svo.     7s. 
THE  CONSCIENCE.  Lectures  on  Casuistry.   3rd  Ed.  Cr.  Svo.  4s.  6d. 
DIALOGUES  ON  FAMILY  WORSHIP.      Crown  Svo.     4s.  6d. 
THE  DOCTRINE  OF   SACRIFICE    DEDUCED   FROM   THE 

SCRIPTURES.      2nd  Edition.      Crown  Svo.      6s. 
THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  WORLD.  6th  Edition.  Cr.  Svo.  4s.  6d. 
ON    THE    SABBATH    DAY;    THE    CHARACTER    OF   THE 
WARRIOR;     AND     ON     THE     INTERPRETATION     OF 
HISTORY.      Fcap.  Svo.      2s.  6d. 
LEARNING  AND  WORKING.     Crown  Svo.     4s.  6d. 
THE   LORD'S    PRAYER,    THE    CREED,    AND    THE    COM- 
MANDMENTS.    Pott  Svo.      IS. 

Collected  Works.     Crown  Svo.     3s.  6d.  each.  « 
SERMONS  PREACHED  IN  LINCOLN'S  INN  CHAPEL.    In  Six 

Volumes.      3s.  6d.  each. 
SERMONS  PREACHED  IN  COUNTRY  CHURCHES. 
CHRISTMAS  DAY  AND  OTHER  SERMONS. 
THEOLOGICAL  ESSAYS.     (Also  Svo.      Sewed.      6d.) 
PROPHETS  AND  KINGS. 
PATRIARCHS  AND  LAWGIVERS. 
THE  GOSPEL  OF  THE  KINGDOM  OF  HEAVEN. 
GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 
EPISTLE  OF  ST.  JOHN. 
FRIENDSHIP  OF  BOOKS. 
PRAYER  BOOK  AND  LORD'S  PRAYER. 
THE  DOCTRINE  OF  SACRIFICE. 
THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

CHURCH  TIMES.— "T\\ere  Is  probably  no  writer  of  the  present  century  to  whom 
the  English  Church  owes  a  deeper  debt  of  gratitude.  .  .  .  Probably  he  did  more  to 
stop  the  stream  of  converts  to  Romanism  which  followed  the  secession  of  Newman  than 
any  other  individual,  by  teaching  English  Churchmen  to  think  out  the  reasonableness 
of  their  position." 

SPE A  A'E R .—'^  These  sermons  are  marked  in  a  conspicuous  degree  by  high  thinking 
and  plain  statement." 

TIMES. — "A  volume  of  sermons  for  which  the  memory  of  Maurice's  unique  personal 
influence  ought  to  secure  a  cordial  reception." 

SCOTSMAN. — "They  appear  in  a  volume  uniform  with  the  recent  collective 
edition  of  Maurice's  works,  and  will  be  welcome  to  the  many  readers  to  whom  that 
edition  has  brought  home  the  teaching  of  the  most  popular  among  modern  English 
divines." 


34  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.'S 

Medley    (Rev.   W.)  — CHRIST    THE    TRUTH.       Being    the 

Angus  Lectures  for  the  year  1900.  Crown  8vo.  6s. 
Milligan  (Rev.  Prof.  W.)— THE  RESURRECTION  OF  OUR 
LORD.  Fourth  Edition.  Crown  8vo.  5s. 
SPECTATOR.— "The  argument  is  put  with  brevity  and  force  by  Dr.  Milligan,  and 
every  page  bears  witness  that  he  has  mastered  the  literature  of  the  subject,  and  has  made 
a  special  study  of  the  more  recent  discussions  on  this  aspect  of  the  question.  .  .  .  The 
remaining  lectures  are  more  theological.  They  abound  in  striking  views,  in  fresh  and 
vigorous  exegesis,  and  manifest  a  keen  apprehension  of  the  bearing  of  the  fact  of  the 
Resurrection  on  many  important  questions  of  theology.  The  notes  are  able  and 
scholarly,  and  elucidate  the  teaching  of  the  text." 

THE  ASCENSION  AND  HEAVENLY  PRIESTHOOD  OF 
OUR  LORD.      Baird  Lectures,  \%(^\.      Crown  8vo.      7s.  6d. 

MISSIONS— UNITED  STUDY  OF.  See  tinder  Griffis,  Hodgkins, 
Mason,  Parsons,  and  Smith. 

Monteflore  (Claude  G.)— LIBERAL  JUDAISM.  An  Essay. 
Crown  Svo.      3s.  net. 

Moorhouse  (Bishop) — 

JACOB  :  Three  Sermons.      Extra  Fcap.  Svo.      3s.  6d. 

THE    TEACHING    OF    CHRIST.       Its   Conditions,    Secret,   and 

Results.      Crown  Svo.      3s.  net. 
DANGERS  OF  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE.      Crown  Svo.      3s.  net. 
CHURCH    WORK:    ITS    MEANS    AND    METHODS.      Crown 
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CHURCH  TIMES. — "  It  may  almost  be  said  to  mark  an  epoch,  and  to  inaugurate  a 
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TIMES. — "A  series  of  diocesan  addresses,  full  of  practical  counsel,  by  one  of  the 
most  active  and  sagacious  of  modern  prelates." 

GLOBE. — "Throughout  the  volume  we  note  the  presence  of  the  wisdom  that  comes 
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MANCHESTER  GUARDIAN.—"  Full  of  interest  and  instruction  for  all  who  take 
an  interest  in  social  and  moral,  to  say  nothing  of  ecclesiastical,  reforms,  and  deserves  to 
find  careful  students  far  beyond  the  limits  of  those  to  whom  it  was  originally  addressed." 

Myers    (F.  W.   H.)— SCIENCE    AND    A    FUTURE    LIFE. 

Gl.  Svo.      4s.  net. 
Nash  (H.  S.)— GENESIS  OF  THE  SOCIAL  CONSCIENCE. 

THE   RELATION    BETWEEN    THE    ESTABLISHMENT 

OF    CHRISTIANITY    IN    EUROPE    AND    THE    SOCIAL 

QUESTION.      Crown  Svo.      6s. 

SCOTSMAN. — "The  book  is  eloquently,  and  at  times  brilliantly,  written.  .  .  .  Rut 
few  readers  could  go  through  it  without  being  inspired  by  its  clever  and  animated  hand- 
ling of  philosophical  ideas." 

MANCHESTER  GUARDIAN.— "  Kn  interesting  and  suggestive  little  book." 

Parsons    (E.    C.)— CHRISTUS    LIBERATOR:     An    Outline 

Study  of  Africa.      Globe  Svo.      2s.  net.      Sewed,      is.  6d.  net. 
Pattison  (Mark). — SERMONS.      Crown  Svo.      6s. 

Peabody  (Prof.  F.  G.)— JESUS  CHRIST  AND  THE  SOCIAL 
QUESTION.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 
JESUS     CHRIST    AND    THE    CHRISTIAN    CHARACTER. 
Crown  Svo.  [In  the  Press. 


THEOLOGICAL  CATALOGUE  35 

Peabody  (Prof.  F.  G.) — continued. 

THE    RELIGION    OF    AN    EDUCATED    MAN.     Crown    8vo. 

Gilt  top.      4s.  6d.  net. 
This  little  volume,  by  the  well-known  Harvard   Professor,  treats  the 

subject   under  the  following  main  heads  :^Religion  as  Education  ;   The 

Message  of  Christ  to  the  Scholar  ;  and  Knowledge  and  Service. 

PEPLOGRAPHIA  DVBLINENSIS.  Memorial  Discourses  Preached 
in  the  Chapel  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  1895- 1902.  With 
Preface  by  the  Very  Rev.  J.  H,  Bernard,  D.D.,  Dean  of  St. 
Patrick's.      Crown  8vo.      3s.  6d.  net. 

PHILOCHRISTUS.  Memoirs  of  a  Disciple  of  the  Lord.  3rd  Ed.  8vo.  12s. 

Picton  (J.  Allanson).— THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  UNI- 
VERSE.    8vo.      los.  net. 

ACADEMY. — "The  book  is  most  seriously  to  be  recommended  to  any  one  who 
desires  a  dignified  and  impressive  statement  of  what  is  most  obviously  the  religion  of  the 
coming  time." 

Pike  (G.  R.)— THE  DIVINE  DRAMA  THE  DIVINE  MANI- 
FESTATION OF  GOD  IN  THE  UNIVERSE.    Crown  8vo.    6s. 
Plumptre       (Dean).  —  MOVEMENTS        IN       RELIGIOUS 

THOUGHT.      Fcap.  8vo.      3s.  6d. 
Porter  (Mrs.    Horace).— THE    SECRET   OF  A   GREAT    IN- 
FLUENCE.      Notes   on   Bishop  Westcott's   Teaching.      With   a 
Chapter  on  Bishop  Westcott's  Commentaries  by  the  Rev.  Arthur 
Westcott.     Crown  8vo.     3s.  net. 
In  the  pages  of  her  book  Mrs.  Porter  has  tried  to  gather  together  some 
of  the  treasures  of  stronger  faith,  wider  hope,  and  clearer  vision  which  are 
offered  to  those  who  will  seek  them  in  the  writings  of  the  Bishop,  and,  as 
an  encouragement  to  others  in  the  same  position,  she  makes  known   the 
fact  that  it  is  only  through  the  published  works  that  she  has  been  able 
herself  to  learn  of  the  great  teacher. 

PRO  CHRISTO  ET  ECCLESIA.  Second  Impression.  Crown  8vo. 
Gilt  top.  4s.  6d.  net. 
BOOKMAN'.— "\i  is  not  only  its  anonymity  which  suggests  comparison  with  Ecce 
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treated  from  quite  different  points  of  view  ;  and  the  level  of  thought  is  much  the  same  ; 
the  easy  originality  that  cuts  a  new  section  through  the  life  of  Christ  and  shows  us  strata 
before  unthought  of;  the  classic  severity  of  the  style,  the  penetrating  knowledge  of  human 
nature,  the  catholicity  of  treatment,  all  remind  us  of  Professor  Seeley's  captivating  work." 

Purchas   (Rev.    H.    T.)  — JOHANNINE    PROBLEMS    AND 

MODERN  NEEDS.      Crown  8vo.      3s.  net. 
RELIGIOUS     DOUBTS     OF    DEMOCRACY.       Papers   by  Various 

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Kendall  (Rev.  F.)— THE  THEOLOGY  OF  THE  HEBREW 

CHRISTIANS.      Crown  8vo.     5s. 
Ridding  (George,  Bishop  of  Southwell).— THE  REVEL  AND 

THE  BATTLE.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 

TIMES. — "  Singularly  well  worth  reading." 

MANCHESTER  G^/zJ/i'ZJ/^A^.—"  Marked  by  dignity  and  force." 

Robinson  (Prebendary  H.  G.)— MAN  IN  THE  IMAGE  OF 
GOD,  and  other  Sermons.      Crown  8vo.      7s.  6d. 


36  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.'S 

Robinson  (Dean  J.  A.)— UNITY  IN   CHRIST  AND  OTHER 

SERMONS.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 
Rutherford  (Rev.  Dr.  W.  G.)— THE  KEY  OF  KNOWLEDGE. 

Sermons  preached  to  Westminster   Boys  in   the  Abbey.      Crown 

8vo.     6s. 
Ryle  (Rt.   Rev.   H.   E.,   Bishop  of  Winchester).  — ON     HOLY 

SCRIPTURE  AND  CRITICISM.     Crown  8vo.     4s.  6d. 
SCOTSMAN.— ^'V^ntt&n  with   Dr.    Ryle's    accustomed    erudition    and  vigour   of 
reasoning." 

ON  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 
Schultz  (Dr.   H.)— OUTLINES    OF    CHRISTIAN    APOLO- 
GETICS   FOR    USE    IN    LECTURES.       Ex.    Crown    8vo. 
7s.  6d.  net. 
Seeley  (Sir  J.  R.)— ECCE   HOMO  :  A  Survey  of  the   Life  and 
Work  of  Jesus  Christ.    Globe  8vo.    4s.  net.    Also  8vo.    Sewed.    6d. 
NATURAL  RELIGION.     Globe  8vo.     4s.  net. 

A  THENAiUM. — "  If  it  be  the  function  of  a  genius  to  interpret  the  age  to  itself,  this 
is  a  work  of  genius.  It  gives  articulate  expression  to  the  higher  strivings  of  the  time. 
It  puts  plainly  the  problem  of  these  latter  days,  and  so  far  contributes  to  its  solution  ;  a 
positive  solution  it  scarcely  claims  to  supply.  No  such  important  contribution  to  the 
question  of  the  time  has  been  published  in  England  since  the  appearance  in  1866  oi  Ecce 
Homo.  .  .  .  The  author  is  a  teacher  whose  words  it  is  well  to  listen  to  ;  his  words  are 
wise  but  sad ;  it  has  not  been  given  him  to  fire  them  with  faith,  but  only  to  light  them 
with  reason.  His  readers  may  at  least  thank  him  for  the  intellectual  illumination,  if  they 
cannot  owe  him  gratitude  for  any  added  favour.  ...  A  book  which  we  assume  will  be 
read  by  most  thinking  Englishmen." 

MANCHESTER  GUARDIAN.— "Ta^  present  issue  is  a  compact,  handy,  well- 
printed  edition  of  a  thoughtful  and  remarkable  book." 

Selborne  (Roundell,  Earl  of).— LETTERS  TO  HIS  SON  ON 

RELIGION.     Globe  8vo.     3s.  6d. 
THE  CATHOLIC   AND   APOSTOLIC  CHURCH.     Globe  8vo. 

3s.  6d. 
Service(Rev.  John).— SERMONS.  With  Portrait.  Crown  8 vo.  6s. 
Smith  (A.  H.)— REX  CHRISTUS.    An  Outline  Study  of  China. 

Globe  8vo.      2s.  6d.  net.     Sewed.      2s.  net. 
Stanley  (Dean) — 

THE    NATIONAL    THANKSGIVING.       Sermons    preached    in 

Westminster  Abbey.      2nd  Edition.      Crown  8vo.      2s.  6d. 
Sterrett  (Dr.  J.   M.)— THE  FREEDOM    OF  AUTHORITY. 

Essays  in  Apologetics.      Ex.  Crown  8vo.      8s.  6d.  net. 
Stewart  (Prof.  Balfour)  and  Tait  (Prof.  P.  G.)— THE  UNSEEN 

UNIVERSE;     OR,     PHYSICAL     SPECULATIONS    ON    A 

FUTURE  STATE.      15th  Edition.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 
Stubbs  (Dean)— 

CHRISTUS  IMPERATOR.     A  Series  of  Lecture-Sermons  on  the 

Universal  Empire  of  Christianity.      Edited  by  Very  Rev.  C.  W. 

Stubbs,  D.D.,  Dean  of  Ely,     Crown  8vo.     6s. 

SCOTSMAN.—"  Their  prelections  will  be  found  stimulating  and  instructive  in  a  high 
degree.  The  volume  deserves  recognition  as  a  courageous  attempt  to  give  to.  Chrisjtianity 
its  rightful  place  and  power  in  the  lives  of  its  professors." 


THEOLOGICAL  CATALOGUE  37 

Talbot  (Bishop).— A  CHARGE  DELIVERED  TO  THE 
CLERGY  OF  THE  DIOCESE  OF  ROCHESTER,  October 
24,  25,  and  26,  1899.  8vo.  Sewed.  2s.  net. 
THE  CHURCH'S  FAILURES  AND  THE  WORK  OF  CHRIST. 
A  Charge  addressed  to  the  Clergy  of  his  Diocese  at  his  Second 
Visitation  in  the  Ninth  Year  of  his  Episcopate  and  in  the  Year  of 
Our  Lord  1903.      8vo.      Sewed,      is.  net. 

DAILY  JVEIVS.—"A  little  book  that  will  be  read  with  interest  by  all  who  are 
concerned  in  the  same  problem  here  considered — the  relation  of  Christianity  as  an  active 
inspiration  of  common  life  to  such  masses  of  toiling  populations  as  are  represented  by 
the  millions  of  South  London." 

Temple  (Archbishop) — 

SERMONS     PREACHED    IN    THE    CHAPEL     OF     RUGBY 

SCHOOL.     Extra  Fcap.  8vo.     4s.  6d. 
SECOND  SERIES.     3rd  Edition.     6s. 
THIRD  SERIES.     4th  Edition.     6s. 

THE  RELATIONS   BETWEEN   RELIGION  AND   SCIENCE. 

Bampton  Lectures,  1884.     New  Impression,  1903.     Cr.  8vo.      6s. 

CHARGE  DELIVERED  AT  HIS  FIRST  VISITATION.     8vo. 

Sewed,      is.  net. 
(i)  The  Doctrine  of  the  Eucharist;  (2)  The  Practice  of  Confession; 
(3)  Uniformity  in  Ceremonial ;  (4)  The  Power  of  the  Bishops. 

Thackeray  (H.  St.  John).— THE  RELATION  OF  ST.  PAUL 
TO  CONTEMPORARY  JEWISH  THOUGHT.     Cr.  8vo.    6s. 

TO  THOSE  WHO  SUFFER.  A  Heart  of  Compassion.  Crown  8vo. 
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way  it  is  ushered  into  the  world  will  not  prevent  it  obtaining  the  attention  and  recognition 
it  deserves." 

Trench  (Archbishop).— HULSEAN  LECTURES.     Svo.     7s.  6d 
Tymms  (Rev.    Dr.   T.   V.)  — THE    CHRISTIAN    IDEA    OF 

ATONEMENT.     Angus  Lectures.     Crown  Svo.      7s.  6d. 
Vaughan  (Dean) — 

MEMORIALS  OF  HARROW  SUNDAYS.     Sth  Edition.     Crown 

Svo.      I  OS.  6d. 
HEROES  OF  FAITH.      2nd  Edition.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 
LIFE'S    WORK    AND    GOD'S    DISCIPLINE.       3rd    Edition. 

Extra  Fcap.  Svo.      2s.  6d. 
THE   WHOLESOME    WORDS    OF    JESUS    CHRIST.       2nd 

Edition.     Fcap.  Svo.      3s.  6d. 
FOES  OF  FAITH.     2nd  Edition.     Fcap.  Svo.     3s.  6d. 
COUNSELS  FOR  YOUNG  STUDENTS.     Fcap.  Svo.     2s.  6d. 
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•*  MY  SON,  GIVE  ME  THINE  HEART."    Extra  Fcap.  Svo.      5s. 
TEMPLE  SERMONS.     Crown  Svo.     los.  6d. 


38  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.'S 

Vaughan  (Dean) — continued. 

AUTHORISED  OR  REVISED  ?     Sermons  on  some  of  the  Texts  in 

which  the  Revised  Version  differs  from  the  Authorised.     Crown 

8vo.     7s.  6d. 
LESSONS  OF  THE  CROSS  AND  PASSION.     WORDS  FROM 

THE    CROSS.      THE   REIGN    OF    SIN.      THE    LORD'S 

PRAYER.  Four  Courses  of  Lent  Lectures.  Crown  8vo.  los.  6d. 
UNIVERSITY  SERMONS.  NEW  AND  OLD.  Cr.  8vo.  los.  6d. 
NOTES   FOR  LECTURES  ON  CONFIRMATION.     Fcap.  8vo. 

IS.  6d. 
DONCASTER   SERMONS.     Lessons  of  Life  and  Godliness,   and 

Words  from  the  Gospels.      Cr.  8vo.      los.  6d. 
RESTFUL  THOUGHTS  IN  RESTLESS  TIMES.     Cr.  8vo.     5s. 
LAST  WORDS  IN  THE  TEMPLE  CHURCH.     Globe  8vo.     Ss. 

SATURDAY  REVIEW.— "Th&s,&  discourses,  in  thought,  in  style,  have  so  much 
that  is  permanent  and  fine  about  them  that  they  will  stand  the  ordeal  of  being  read  by 
any  serious  man,  even  though  he  never  heard  Dr.  Vaughan  speak." 

UNIVERSITY  AND  OTHER  SERMONS.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 

TIMES. — "As  specimens  of  pure  and  rhythmical  English  prose,  rising  here  and  there 
to  flights  of  sober  and  chastened  eloquence,  yet  withal  breathing  throughout  an  earnest 
and  devotional  spirit,  these  sermons  would  be  hard  to  match." 

SCOTSMAN. — "All  are  marked  by  the  earnestness,  scholarship,  and  strength  of 
thought  which  invariably  characterised  the  pulpit  utterances  of  the  preacher." 

Vaughan  (Rev.  D.  J.)— THE  PRESENT  TRIAL  OF  FAITH. 

Crown  8vo.      5s. 
QUESTIONS    OF    THE    DAY,  SOCIAL,    NATIONAL,    AND 
RELIGIOUS.     Crown  8vo.      5s. 

NATIONAL  OBSERVER.— "In  discussing  Questions  0/ the  Day  Mr.  D.  J 
Vaughan  speaks  with  candour,  ability,  and  common  sense." 

SCOTSMAN. — "They  form  an  altogether  admirable  collection  of  vigorous  and 
tlioughtful  pronouncements  on  a  variety  of  social,  national,  and  religious  topics." 

GLASGOW  HERALD. — "  A  volume  such  as  this  is  the  best  reply  to  those  friends 
of  the  people  who  are  for  ever  complaining  that  the  clergy  waste  their  time  preaching 
antiquated  dogma  and  personal  salvation,  and  neglect  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law." 

MANCHESTER  GUARDIAN.— "He  speaks  boldly  as  well  as  thoughtfully,  and 
what  he  has  to  say  is  always  worthy  of  attention." 

EXPOSITOR  y  TIMES.—"  Most  of  them  are  social,  and  these  are  the  most  interest- 
ing. And  one  feature  of  peculiar  interest  is  that  in  those  sermons  which  were  preached 
twenty  years  ago  Canon  Vaughan  saw  the  questions  of  to-day,  and  suggested  the  remedies 
we  are  beginning  to  apply." 

Vaughan  (Canon  E.  T.)— SOME  REASONS  OF  OUR  CHRIS- 
TIAN  HOPE.     Hulsean  Lectures  for  1875.     Crown  8vo.    6s.  6d. 

Venn    (Dr.    John).— ON    SOME    CHARACTERISTICS    OF 
BELIEF,  SCIENTIFIC  AND  RELIGIOUS.     8vo.     6s.  6d. 

Welldon    (Bishop).  — THE     SPIRITUAL     LIFE,    and    other 
Sermons.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 

SCOTTISH  LEADER.—"  In  a  strain  of  quiet,  persuasive  eloquence.  Bishop  Welldon 
treats  impressively  of  various  aspects  of  the  higher  life.  His  discourses  cannot  fail  both 
to  enrich  the  heart  and  stimulate  the  mind  of  the  earnest  reader." 

GLASGOW  HERALD. — "  They  are  cultured,  reverent,  and  thoughtful  produc- 
tions." 

THE  REVELATION  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.    Crown  8vo.    6s. 


THEOLOGICAL  CATALOGUE  39 

Welldon  (Bishop) — continued. 

"I   LIVE":    BEING    HINTS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

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40     MACMILLAN  AND  CO.'S  THEOLOGICAL  CATALOGUE 

White  (A.  D.)— A  HISTORY  OF  THE  WARFARE  OF 
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